World of Lazreat
by Looneyman
Summary: Here's the secret project. An RPG adventure to celebrate Zach's birthday. Follow the adventure through a land of magic and excitement. Starts slow. Violence and peril in later chapters. Accepting other people's Fan characters.
1. The beginning

Here's the top-secret project that you may have seen on my profile page. Before there are any moans, this wasn't inspired by Jetdude's Fantasy quest stories. I'm taking several winks from several series in this story. I'll leave you to guess of which series that I've taken winks from, if you want to. This will be long and will start slow so please bear with me. One more thing, do not expect a rapid update as I am approaching the end of my college course and that takes priority..

Disclaimer: As you're aware, I don't own the Looney Tunes. We all know who owns them. You'll know which characters I own.

**The beginning**

The location was the Extreme Entertainment Arcade, a huge entertainment centre in the city. The complex covered several floors and included a swimming pool, bowling alleys, an ice ring, a gymnasium, a sports arena, a video games arcade and several other forms of entertainment. The one that was of most interest was on the top floor. At the top was the Total immersion RPG arena. This area was one massive Virtual Reality RPG game, the most popular place in the building. The game was called 'The World of Lazreat'. Every day, the game was packed to the max. It was early morning, the place had just opened and some of the machines had been taken. However, 9 machines had been booked. They had been booked by some of the Looney Tunes. Among those present were Bugs, Lola, Jessica, Sylvester, Sylvester Jr, Tweety, Aaooga and Penelope. They were all waiting for Daffy, Melissa and Zach. It was Zach's birthday, and they were going to spend the day in the world of Lazreat as a present for him. It was Daffy that had booked the machines. Zach had mentioned it several times that he wanted to have a go, but he hadn't been told by anybody that they were doing it for his birthday. The machines had been booked and paid for by Daffy well in advance. Everybody had a present for Zach with them. Everybody was looking forward to getting into the game, Sylvester Jr. and Jessica especially. Jessica was tightly holding the present that she had for Zach, eager to give it to him first. She was also eager to get into the game. She didn't know what the game was about, so this would be an interesting experience for her, on more than one level. They were booked in to the game for the whole day. The room everybody was waiting in was the main waiting room. There were a couple of Arcade games in the room, including Soul Calibur, Mortal Kombat and a racing game. Sylvester Jr. was playing on the racing game to satisfy his boredom. Everybody else was sitting at some tables in the centre of the room. Apart from the Arcade games, the tables and chairs, there was also a small food and drink stand. Everyone had a drink while they were waiting. Lola wasn't going to be on the machines, as she was still pregnant. There were three doors that led to the Total immersion machines. Each room had about 20 machines. There was also the Sales desk, with a grey coyote at the till. There was a pile of 9 sheets of paper on the table where Sylvester and Penelope were sitting. These papers were to be filled in when Zach arrived so their characters could be created. Outside the room, Daffy, Melissa and Zach were in the lift going up to the top floor. Zach was wearing a blindfold, as he had been asked to so he could be surprised. Throughout the whole trip, Zach had remained quiet. Melissa wasn't going to play on the machines, as she was looking after Rose. When the lift reached the top of the building, Zach began to suspect where he might be, but he still remained quiet. He just allowed Daffy and Melissa to lead him to the Total immersion RPG arena, even though he didn't know that's where they were going for certain.

"Ok Zach, you can remove the blindfold now." Daffy said when they reached the door to the Total immersion RPG arena. Zach nodded and lifted up the blindfold. He took one look upwards and realised where he was as soon as he saw the sign. It took him a moment for the realism to hit him. His thought as to where they were going was wrong; this was the last place he had expected to go. He really didn't know what to say.

"Well Zach, surprised?" Melissa asked. Zach was still awash with shock but was eventually able to look up at his adoptive parents.

"Daffy, Melissa, thank you. This was the last thing I expected." Zach managed to say.

"We knew you wanted to go, so we arranged this quite a while ago." Daffy said.

"Did you invite any others?"

"Of course we did."

"Then we might as well go in and wait for them." Zach had no idea that Jessica was hiding on the other side of the door, ready to ambush him as soon as he entered. She had heard them arrive and thought she'd give her boyfriend a surprise for when he entered. Zach opened the door and entered the room first. Before he had noticed everyone else, Jessica had jumped him. She grabbed hold of him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Your guests are already here." Jessica greeted.

"Happy birthday Zach!" Everyone else said in unison as soon as Zach had received his kiss from Jessica. He couldn't believe it. This, so far, was the best birthday that he'd had. He hugged Jessica back and looked up at everyone.

"Everyone, thank you." Zach said.

* * *

After the shock had died down, Zach was sitting at one of the tables with a drink in his hand and a character creation sheet in front of him. Everyone other than Melissa had a sheet so they could create the characters that they would be in the game. Bugs, Lola, Daffy and Melissa were sitting with the two rabbits. Those that were playing were also busy creating their characters as well. The name of the character was just their name, but they had to choose what type of fighter they would be and generate their starting stats. This was done with the help of a guide sheet and some dice. They had been told that they would automatically get the skills of their chosen character type the moment they entered the game. The stats that they would be generating were labelled HP, Attack, Defence, Speed, Mental Attack and Mental Defence. There was also a list of character types on a separate sheet of paper. Sylvester, Penelope, Sylvester Jr, Tweety and Aaooga were on another table doing exactly the same thing. Zach hadn't opened any of his other presents yet; they were being saved for after the game was over. This was Zach's idea, as it would give him something to look forward to for when the game were finished.

"Daffy, where were we going to go once the games' finished?" Zach asked.

"What do you mean?" Daffy asked back.

"Well, I can't really open the presents from everybody else here."

"Hmm. We could all go back to your house, Zach can open his presents and then we could all have some food." Lola suggested.

"In which case, I'll go take your presents home and get some suitable foods while you guys are playing." Melissa said.

"Thanks Melissa." Zach replied.

"I'll stay here and wait for you lot to finish then." Lola said. Everybody nodded.

"So, what are you guys going to be?" Bugs asked.

"I've decided on being a swordsman." Zach replied.

"What about you Jess?"

"She should be a mage of some sort." Daffy suggested.

"I want to but I'm not sure of how I'd cope." Jessica said.

"Why?"

"On my games, I have difficulty using purely magic users."

"Then why not be a magic swordswoman?" Zach suggested.

"A what?" Melissa asked.

"They can use swords and can also use limited magic."

"I like that idea. I'll give it a try." Jessica replied.

"I've decided on a two-sword swordsman." Bugs said.

"What about you Daff?" Jessica asked.

"I really don't know." Daffy replied.

"To be honest, I'm not sure if we can trust you with any weapons." Jessica joked. Everyone but Daffy laughed.

"Fine then. I'll be a fist-fighter." On the table where the others were, there was a similar discussion going on. Sylvester, Penelope, Sylvester Jr, Tweety and Aaooga were trying to decide on what type of characters they should be.

"Penelope, why don't you have first choice as to what you are?" Sylvester suggested.

"Why thank you." Penelope replied.

"So, what do you want to be?" Tweety asked. Penelope took a look at the list of available character types and had a think as to what would be most suitable for her. She eventually made a decision.

"I'll be an archer."

"That's an interesting choice." Sylvester Jr. muttered.

"What about you Sylvester?" Aaooga asked.

"I was thinking of being a cleric." Sylvester replied.

"What about you?" Penelope asked.

"Us? We're going to be mages." Aaooga replied.

"Both of you?" Sylvester asked.

"We're too small to use most weapons so using magic would be the best option for us."

"What about you son?" Sylvester asked.

"I've decided on using an axe." Sylvester Jr. replied.

"Will you be ok with using a weapon like that?"

"I'll be fine father."

* * *

After a few minutes, everybody had successfully created his or her characters for the game. Bugs was a swordsman that used two swords, Daffy was an unarmed fist-fighter, Sylvester was a cleric, Penelope was an archer, Sylvester Jr. was an ax-man, Tweety and Aaooga were mages, Jessica was a magic swordswoman and Zach was a swordsman. The group was now in one of the rooms with the Total immersion machines. The machines were basically seats with a hood that came down over the face. There were straps to keep the people in the machine. There were also smaller machines for the smaller customers. Before the group had entered the room, they had given their character sheets to the grey coyote ad he had given them each a character card. The character card was green with their name and character type. There was a slot on each of the Total immersion machines to insert the card into. This would generate the character and his/her abilities. At the moment, the group was listening to a Brown monkey wearing a blue cap. The monkey was talking to the group about the mechanics of the game.

"Ok, obviously none of you have been on this before." The monkey said. Everybody shook their heads. The monkey then began explaining everything they needed to know.

"Ok then. The world that you are about to enter is called Lazreat. You will begin at a campsite situated in a random location in the world. You will be placed a safe distance from all dangers though. The land is filled with towns, other people, friends and enemies, monsters and temples. The scenario has already been determined. You have until the time you have pre-purchased to get as far as you can with the scenario. As well as working with other customers, you are also competing with them to complete the scenario first. Whichever group completes the scenario first will gain a free play."

"How will we be carrying any items that we obtain?" Daffy asked.

"Everyone will have a bag to store any items that you may find on your quest. The items will range from the usual healing items to money to items that are key to your adventure."

"And how do we check our statistics and such?" Bugs asked.

"In the bag you will find a small book called your quest log. This book will contain all the information that you need. The front page will show your stats and the amount of experience points that you need to reach the next level. Are there any other questions?"

"What about the time scale?" Jessica asked.

"It varies depending on how long you have paid for. You could be in the game for 20 game days and find that only 7 hours have passed in reality."

"Erm…"

"I don't understand it either."

"We could ask Wile E." Daffy suggested.

"Want a 5 hour lecture?" Zach asked. Daffy shook his head.

"Any other questions?" The monkey asked.

"I think that we'll be able to figure everything out by ourselves." Sylvester said.

"Now, you'll need to elect a group leader before you begin."

"Since it's Zach's birthday, why don't we let Zach be the leader?" Tweety suggested.

"Are you up for that?" Jessica asked.

"Sure, I'm up for it." Zach replied.

"Ok then young lad. It will be you that decides on all of the important matters in the game. Now we're ready to get yourselves strapped into the game." The monkey said. Everyone nodded and found a machine that they could use. This was mostly down to their size. Tweety and Aaooga had canary sized machines, the smallest available. Once everyone was in and their character cards were inserted into the machines, the monkey strapped everybody into the machines and attached food catheters and biofeedback catheters to the machines.

"Ok guys, are you all ready?" The monkey asked. Everybody gave a thumbs up. The monkey nodded and pulled a lever on the side of the room.

"Ok, before you began, I have to give you a notice regarding your safety. When the machines are activated at first, you will have a falling sensation. Just close your eyes and open them when the sensation stops. You will be alerted when your time is nearly up. Enjoy yourselves and good luck." As the monkey said this, glass hoods came down and over everybody's eyes. There was then a sensation of falling through space. Everyone closed their eyes for a moment and waited for the sensation to stop. When the sensation would eventually stop, their adventure would begin.

A/N: If you want one of your characters to appear in the story, let me know by all means. This won't change the outcome of the story though.


	2. Enter the world of Lazreat

((A/N: Thanks to those who suggested a character for the story. Don't expect them to appear for another couple of chapters though.))

**Enter the world of Lazreat**

When the falling sensation stopped, everybody opened their eyes to see where they were. As the monkey had said, they were in a campsite. There were 7 tents and a small campfire that had burnt out. The camp was on the edge of a forest and very near a dirt path. There was nobody around other than them. They were also dressed in outfits that suited their chosen skill. Zach was wearing a wooden chest plate covered by a green tunic with a belt. He found a wooden shield and a simple steel sword on his back. Jessica was also wearing a wooden chest plate but had a black cloak over the top. There was also a simple sword on her back, but she lacked a shield. Sylvester Jr. was wearing a light steel t-shirt and had an axe as big as him in his hand. The axe was mostly wood except for a steel blade, which made it light enough for him to wield. He also had a small dagger equipped. Bugs was wearing a similar outfit to Zach, except he had red tunic rather than a green tunic. There were two swords on his back. They were made of light steel. Sylvester was wearing a white cloak and he had a wooden staff in his hands. Penelope was wearing a green tunic, similar to Zach. She also had a wooden chest plate. She had a simple bow and a quiver on her back, which contained about 30 crossbow bolts. She also had a small dagger attached to the belt. Both Tweety and Aaooga were wearing black coats. Tweety had a club while Aaooga had a staff similar to Sylvester's. Daffy was wearing a brown cloak. There were leather gauntlets on his hands. Everybody also had a small white bag next to them, fit to their size. Everybody opened their bags to fins out what they had inside. Inside was the quest log that the monkey had mentioned, as well as a couple of mineral water, a green and yellow berry, a loaf of bread, a knife and several sandwich fillings. Nobody recognised the berry that was in the bag at all so they didn't want to touch it.

"Any idea of what this berry is?" Daffy asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"I'll check the quest log." Tweety said. He flicked through the book and eventually found a page regarding items. On the page were several blank boxes but there were a couple of pictures. One of the pictures was of the bottle of mineral water and the other was of the berry. Next to the items was a brief description.

"Got it. It's a wisdom berry. It restores a third of our magic metre." Tweety finally said.

"In which case the water restores a third of our HP." Daffy reasoned.

"Indeed."

"The rest is food. That means we have the opportunity to cook after battles." Jessica said.

"This is amazing. It's as if we're actually here." Zach said.

"I never thought that it would be a proper RPG." Sylvester JR. added.

"Speaking of which, where would our spell list be?" Sylvester asked.

"In the quest log." Jessica replied, opening up the quest log. Everyone else opened up their quest logs to see if they could use spells or not. The first page showed the stats, level and experience points. They were currently at level 1 and needed 10 experience points to reach level 2. The second page was the spells list. Those that could use spells were Jessica, Sylvester, Tweety, Aaooga and, much to everyone's surprise, Penelope. Penelope was as surprised as everyone.

"Guys, I can use spells as well." Penelope exclaimed. Everybody looked at her in amazement.

"You can use spells?" Sylvester asked.

"According to this, I can use fireball, sharpen and barrier."

"What do you have Jess?" Bugs asked.

"At the moment, only fireball and water drop." Jessica replied.

"What about you two?" Daffy asked Tweety and Aaooga.

"We've got fireball, water drop and lightning." Tweety replied.

"Both of you?" Sylvester Jr. asked. The canaries nodded.

"Sly, you're a cleric. You should have spells. What do you have?" Bugs asked. Sylvester checked his quest log to see what he had.

"Recover, Sharpen and Barrier." Sylvester replied.

"But what do all of those spells do?" Sylvester Jr. asked.

"Following logic, Fireball, water drop and lightning are attack spells. Recover restores HP, barrier raises defence and sharpen raises attack." Tweety replied.

"Knowing all this is all very well, but we need to practice fighting if we're going to get anywhere." Zach said.

"Then I say we go and find something easy to fight." Bugs added.

* * *

The group picked up their quest bags, packed up the campsite and left the area in search of a practice fight so they could test out their computer generated skills. Some people had skills naturally, but the game had granted them the special skills depending on the character type they had chosen. They had been walking for a few minutes, following the dirt path that was near the campsite, before the group were jumped by a large group of thugs, about 9 of them. They were all wearing tunics of varying colours and were all armed with daggers. The daggers were pointed towards the Looney Tunes, and one of them took a step forward. 

"Ok you guys. Hand over all your possessions and you'll get to live." The thug growled. Everyone just looked at each other.

"Do you think these lot will do for practice?" Daffy asked.

"I think it would." Bugs replied.

"Agreed." Jessica added.

"Then they're our first fight." Zach finished.

"I'm nervous about having to kill someone though." Penelope said.

"Penelope, they're computer generated. They're not real." Sylvester reassured her.

"Ok." After Penelope's reply, everyone put their quest bags down and drew their weapons. The thugs just looked back intently.

"Looks like they want to fight us." One of them said.

"What do we do?" Another asked.

"We fight them, kill them and then take whatever they have." The leader said. The thugs then got themselves into a fighting position. The Looney tunes got themselves into a fighting position, with Penelope readying an arrow in her bow. Eventually, it was one of the thugs that made the first move. He charged forward and tried to thrust the dagger into Zach. Zach blocked the dagger with his shield and then slashed at the thug with his sword. This slash knocked the thug to the floor. He was now struggling to get up now. Zach used this opening to use a coup de grace on the thug to finish him off. Another thug had lunged towards Jessica. Again, Jessica had blocked the attack and knocked the thug to the floor. As soon as the thug was grounded, Jessica put her right hand forward and aimed it at the grounded thug.

"Fireball!" Jessica shouted. A fireball appeared from her hand and was fired at the grounded thug. The thug took the fireball to the head and was killed by the fire. A third thug had lunged towards Bugs. Bugs sidestepped the thug and then trapped the thug with his two swords. The fourth thug was being loaded with arrows from Penelope's bow. After being hit a few times, the thug fell to the floor. While he was down, Penelope had an idea. She dropped her bow and held an arrow in one hand. She then faced her other hand at the arrowhead.

"Fireball!" Penelope shouted. A fireball sprouted from her hand and lit the arrowhead. Penelope quickly picked up her bow again and fired the flaming arrow at the thug she was attacking. As a result, the arrow did more damage. The thug didn't last long. She only targeted thugs that got close to Sylvester. Sylvester Jr. had rushed at another thug swing his axe madly. The swings were slow but every hit did severe damage. It only took a single hit to take the thug down. Sylvester firstly tried to use sharpen on Zach to practice using spells on allies. He did this by pointing his staff towards Zach, who was blocking the attacks from a thug.

"Sharpen!" Sylvester shouted. Zach then glowed red after the casting. Zach immediately realised that he had been given a strength boost and went on the offensive. Sylvester then aimed his staff at Zach again.

"Barrier!" Sylvester shouted. Zach then glowed blue after this casting. This told Zach that he had been giving a defence boost. Sylvester then spent the time casting Sharpen and Barrier on everybody else. Tweety and Aaooga stayed near the quest bags. They were the last defence should anyone get too close. They started by aiming their staffs at two individual thugs.

"Lightning!" They both shouted. A bolt of lightning came striking down from the sky and hit the thugs they aimed at. They staggered and fell to the ground. They tried to get back up but were hit by another lightning spell. Daffy was in a grappling match with another of the thugs. He had grabbed hold of the thug's dagger and was pressing it against the thug's neck. Daffy suddenly kicked the thug in the groin. The thug winched and let go of the dagger, allow Daffy to stab the thug and defeat it. It didn't take long for the group to take down all of the thugs that had attacked them. Every time a thug was defeated, it disappeared in a shower of pixels.

* * *

When the battle was over, everyone gave a sigh of relief. Jessica began picking up some gold coins that the thugs had dropped in the battle. She also found a map of the region amongst the coins. She picked up the map and went back to the others. 

"We won that fairly easily." Bugs said.

"It was our first battle." Zach said.

"But we still won."

"Does that mean that we get some experience points?" Sylvester Jr. asked.

"Good point." Jessica replied. Everybody opened up their quest bags and pulled out their quest logs. They had not only gotten experience, but they had also levelled up. Their stats had risen slightly and their HP and magic metre had been restored fully. This surprised almost everybody. The only people that weren't surprised were Jessica, Zach and Sylvester Jr.

"That was quick." Daffy said.

"We always level up quickly at the beginning. It will slow down later on." Zach replied.

"You've never played RPG's have you?" Jessica asked. Daffy just shrugged.

"You magic users might have some new spells. Have a check." Sylvester Jr. said. All the magic users opened their quest logs and had a look. Tweety and Aaooga had gained Snow blast, rock hurl and wind knife. Sylvester hadn't gained any new spells, much to his disappointment. Penelope had gained water drop and lightning. Jessica had gained recover and a spell called bloody sphere. This spell surprised Jessica. She could tell just from the name that it was a dark type spell, something that she had no idea that she could use.

"Why can I use dark spells?" Jessica asked.

"What so you mean?" Bugs asked.

"I've just obtained a spell called bloody sphere."

"Did you gain anything else?"

"I gained recover."

"What did everyone else gain?" Daffy asked.

"We gained snow blast, rock hurl and wind knife." Aaooga said.

"I didn't gain anything." Sylvester said.

"Why not?" Penelope asked.

"You don't always gain new spells when you level up in any RPG." Sylvester Jr. said.

Did you gain anything Penelope?" Sylvester asked.

"I've gained water drop and lightning." Penelope replied.

"What shall we all do now?" Daffy asked.

"It's up to Zach. He's our leader." Jessica replied.

"I say we find a town." Zach said.

"Good idea. We should really stock up on items."

"I also think we should allocate item carriers to carry each type of item."

"Let's do that when we get to town."

"Guys, we have no idea of where a town would be!" Daffy protested.

"Daffy's right. We should've asked one of the thugs before we killed them all." Sylvester added.

"Not necessarily." Jessica replied, pulling out the map she had found.

"Jessica, where did you get that?" Sylvester Jr. asked.

"I found it where we fought the thugs. One of them must have dropped it."

"That must be one of the most helpful items right now." Daffy said. Everybody looked at him.

"It would be if we knew where we were." Penelope replied.

"Regal forest." Sylvester Jr. said.

"How do you know we're at regal forest?" Zach asked. Sylvester Jr. pointed to a sign that was nearby that nobody had noticed. Everyone slapped themselves on the forehead. Jessica sighed and looked at the map. She eventually found Regal forest on the map. After looking around on the map for a few minutes, she eventually found where the nearest town was.

"Ok guys, if we follow the dirt path this way, we'll eventually come to the city of Linzer. We should be able to get some rest there." Jessica finally said

"Ok guys, let's go." Zach instructed.


	3. Trouble in Linzer

**Trouble in Linzer**

After a few minutes of walking, the group arrived at the gate to the city of Linzer. As soon as they arrived, they realised that there was trouble. This was because two guards that were guarding the gate had been knocked out cold. The group could see that there was a commotion in the centre of the city. They could see that there was a large group of people surrounding what looked like gallows. The first thing the group did was go to the knocked out guards. They were completely unresponsive, they didn't respond no mater how much Daffy shook them on the shoulder.

"Sylvester, do you think you could wake them up with recover?" Zach asked.

"I'll try." Sylvester replied. He knelt down and placed his staff on one of the guards.

"Recover." The staff began to glow blue and a blue field hovered over the guard. After a second, the guard woke up. He looked up at the group as soon as he woke up.

"Are you ok?" Sylvester asked.

"Who are you?" The guard asked.

"A group of travellers. We've only just arrived and wondered what's going on." Zach replied. Sylvester was tending to the other guard while Zach was talking to the guard.

"The city was attacked."

"By who?"

"The Dawners."

"Who are the Dawners?"

"A group that desires world domination. They attacked the city. I think they are about to execute the princess."

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed

"They attacked us and knocked us out. I don't remember anything after that."

"Who is their leader?" Zach asked

"Nobody knows, but someone called lord Claudia is with them." Zach stood up and addressed everybody else.

"Come on guys. We have a princess to save."

"Right!" Everyone replied. They all ran into the city before the guard could object. The gallows were in the centre of the town. There was a hotel on the right hand side and some shops on the other side. Further ahead was a huge castle. The group couldn't get close to the gallows, because of all the public surrounding the gallows and protesting. Around the gallows were a group of about 5 humans wearing purple and gold uniforms. Among them was a large human with the same uniform, but he was of much heavier build and had a star on his uniform. This was obviously the lord Claudia. On top of the gallows was another Dawner troop. He was standing next to a young yellow cat, no bigger than Sylvester Jr, who was wearing a beautiful red and gold dress. She had a rope tied around her neck.

"Everyone, you are gathered here today to witness the execution of princess Bonji." Lord Claudia said in a loud booming voice.

"Her crimes include resistance to our advances and sending constant armies against us." A Dawner troop read out from a scroll.

"She has done nothing wrong!" A person from the crowd shouted. A downer troop fired a fireball at the person who shouted.

"WE decide on what is right and what is wrong, peasant!" Lord Claudia shouted. Nobody had noticed the Looney Tunes enter the town. While this was going on, they had knelt down and were all discussing in a whisper.

"I'm not standing for this." Penelope said.

"These guys are pure evil. What right do they have to do what they're doing?" Sylvester asked.

"None." Jessica replied.

"I say we go in and fight everyone." Daffy said.

"Daff, we need to think of a plan. We can't rush things." Bugs protested.

"If we don't hurry, the princess will be killed."

"Acting quickly and rushing are completely different things."

"We need to think of a way to cause some confusion." Jessica added.

"Any ideas?" Tweety asked.

"Zach, you're the leader. What do you think we should do?" Aaooga asked. Zach went into thought. He didn't want to think long, as there was a life at stake so he decided to go with the first thing that came into his head.

"Penelope, do you think you could cut the rope around the princess with an arrow?" Zach asked.

"Sure, I'll give it a go." Penelope replied.

"Ok, that will save the princess. Then what do we do?" Jessica asked.

"Sylvester Jr. if somebody gave you a boost, could you destroy the gallows with your axe?" Zach asked.

"No problem." Sylvester Jr. replied.

"And I'll give you a boost." Sylvester added.

"We'll distract everyone with fireballs." Tweety said.

"While everyone's distracted, Sylvester Jr. you grab princess Bonji and get back here. We'll give you cover." Jessica finished.

"Right, we now have a plan." Bugs said.

"Then let's do it." Daffy replied.

* * *

Lord Claudia had gone up to the gallows and was standing next to princess Bonji. The princess was terrified. Sweat was dripping off her body all over. She was looking at death in the face.

"Any last words?" Lord Claudia asked.

"Yes I do. You will not get away with this. There will always be warriors that will be brave enough to face you and your other Lords. My death will not be in vain. You will never take control of this world, not so long as warriors dare to challenge you. You will be defeated one day Claudia, along with the rest your Dawner lords!" Princess Bonji shouted.

"Whatever, but you will not be around to see that future, if it ever comes to pass." Lord Claudia went over to the side of the gallows and put a hand on a lever, ready to pull it. He didn't notice Penelope with an arrow, ready to fire at the rope around Bonji's neck. Sylvester Jr. was in his father's arms, with his axe ready. Everything had to be coordinated perfectly for the princess to be safe. Sylvester was going to throw his son into the fray as soon as the rope had been cut. Tweety and Aaooga were on Daffy's hands. He was going to raise them up so they could cast fireballs at everybody to create the distraction. Nothing could go wrong with the plan. Penelope had finished fine-tuning her aim at the rope. Everything was ready. Lord Claudia then pulled the lever that he was standing next to. The trap door beneath princess Bonji's feet opened. This was Penelope's cue. As soon as she saw princess Bonji drop, she fired the arrow. The arrow found its mark and sliced through the rope, allowing princess Bonji to drop through the trap door safely.

"Now." Penelope said. This was Sylvester's cue. He threw his son as far as he could, while allowing Sylvester Jr. to jump at the same time. The entire crowd turned around and looked at the Looney Tunes. Half of them also watched Sylvester Jr, who was still flying through the air. As he was about to land on the gallows, he readies his axe and slashed it downwards. The axe blow crashed through the gallows and it began to collapse.

"Princess, come on." Sylvester Jr. said. He used his dagger to cut the roped that tied her hands together, grabbed her hand and ran from the collapsing gallows. The gallows collapsed just after the two got out from underneath, taking Lord Claudia and the Dawner guard with it. As soon as he heard the crash, Daffy raised his hands above his head. This was Tweety and Aaooga's cue to cause some more mayhem.

"Fireball!" They both shouted. They then began firing fireballs at all of the Dawner troops. The crowd dispersed as well to avoid the fireballs. This allowed Sylvester Jr. and Princess Bonji to get away and allowed Jessica, Zach and Bugs to enter the fray. Tweety and Aaooga jumped off of Daffy's hands so Daffy could enter the fray. The two canaries stopped firing fireballs and entered the fray themselves, shortly followed by Sylvester and Penelope. Sylvester Jr. had also come, with princess Bonji keeping well back. Lord Claudia had taken an injury from his fall from the gallows, as had the Dawner troop that was on the gallows. 2 of the Dawner troops that were on the ground went to their wounded leader and the wounded troop.

"How dare you! You'll pay for that!" One of the troops shouted.

"No, we have to get Lord Claudia back to base so he can heal." Another said.

"Look, whoever you are. You will not get away with that!" Lord Claudia scolded.

"Orders sir!" A troop asked. Lord Claudia pointed at three of the troops.

"You three, I'm leaving you to take these punks out. Show them no mercy."

"Yes sir!" The other two used magic to teleport Lord Claudia and the wounded troop away from the area. The three troops that were left were all glaring at the Looney Tunes.

"How dare you injure Lord Claudia! You're all dead!" One of them scolded.

"Bring it on!" Zach shouted.

* * *

The three Dawner troops drew swords from their uniforms. The Looney tunes already had their weapons out and were ready to fight. The troops rushed towards the Looney Tunes. Zach countered by ducking behind his shield and blocking the slash that the troop took. Zach then slashed back with his sword, knocking the troop back. However, the troop was wearing heavy armor so the swipe didn't do much damage. Jessica had defended herself from another troop with her blade by blocking the attack and sidestepping. The troop she was fighting then fell to the floor. Jessica aimed her hand at the grounded troop.

"Bloody spear!" Jessica shouted. A ball of dark energy suddenly surrounded the troop. The energy then exploded and caused damage, but didn't kill him. Bugs was in a battle lock with the third troop. He was using one of his swords to block the attack from the troop. He then suddenly used his second sword to sweep the troop off his feet. When the troop was on his back, Bugs tried to stab the troop, but the blades were blocked by the troops armour. Daffy came over to bugs and began punching the troop around the head, to try and do as much as possible to the troop. Penelope began firing arrows at the troop that was causing trouble for Zach. Unfortunately, each arrow bounced off of the armour and into Zach's shield. Sylvester Jr. then tried to attack that same trooper. The force of the blow sent the troop sliding on his back. This allowed him to get up and get back into a fighting position. Sylvester was doing all he could to boost everyone's attack and defence but it didn't seem to be enough. The only people that seemed to be having any success were Tweety and Aaooga. They were using lightning against the troop that Jessica had grounded. Because of the metal armour, the power was increased and the troop was soon killed. This gave Penelope an idea. She put her bow away and thrust her hand at the troop that was now standing.

"Lightning!" Penelope shouted. A lightning strike came down and hit the troop she aimed at. The troop was hit heavily and fell to the floor. The troop that Bugs and Daffy were ganging up on had been able to throw them off and join up with the troop that had just been hit with Penelope's lightning.

"Well, we've got one of them." Zach said.

"But it seems that the only thing that works on them is electricity." Jessica added.

"What do we do?" Sylvester Jr. asked.

"It's up to our magic users." Bugs replied.

"Let me have a try." A voice from behind said. It was princess Bonji. She put her hand forward and aimed at one of the troops.

"Spark ball!" Bonji shouted. A ball of electricity was fired from her hand at one of the troops, killing it instantly. Everybody looked at her dumbfounded.

"You're that powerful?" Zach asked.

"Guys, look out!" Tweety shouted. The final troop was charging at them.

"Lightning!" Aaooga shouted. A lightning bolt came down and hit the charging troop, causing him to stagger. Tweety followed this up with his own lightning spell and killed the troop. All of the troops were now gone. Everyone sighed with relief and put their weapons away. Zach scooted around the battlefield and picked up the gold that the troops had dropped. Princess Bonji then went to each member of the group and hugged all of them, especially Sylvester Jr. This made him very nervous.

"I owe all of you my thanks. You saved my life." Princess Bonji said after she had finished hugging everyone.

"Your majesty, we did what was the right thing to do." Zach replied.

"You were all very brave with what you did back then. I am in your debt."

"Princess Bonji!" A voice from the castle shouted. Everyone turned around to look at where the voice was coming from.


	4. Meeting royalty

**Meeting royalty**

The people who had called princess Bonji were two guards from the castle, similar to the ones that were at the gate. They were both wielding spears and were clad in heavy armour. As soon as they saw the Looney tunes, they both pointed their spears at them. The group backed away a little. They had done nothing wrong and didn't want to fight the guards. But the guards seemed as though they were going to attack any moment.

"Let the princess go scum!" One of the guards shouted.

"Hey, steady. We haven't harmed her." Sylvester Jr. protested.

"At ease, at ease." Princess Bonji said, stretching her arms forward.

"But princess…" One of the guards began.

"These people are not harming me. Quite the opposite, I owe my life to them."

"They are not Dawners?"

"No, you do not need to worry. The Dawners were forced to run." The guards lowered their weapons and looked at the group.

"We apologise for being too hasty. We thought you were going to hurt the princess." One of the guards said to the group.

"Apology accepted sir." Zach replied.

"Princess!" Another voice from behind shouted. This voice came from another cat. He was wearing a red cloak with a gold rim around the sleeves and the collar. There were also golden strands woven into the robe. The cat was also wearing golden gloves. He was also wearing a golden crown with multi-coloured diamonds. As soon as the Looney tunes saw him, it registered that he was a king and knelt down out of respect. The king paid little attention to them and instead went to the Princess.

"Daughter, are you ok?" The king asked, whilst hugging princess Bonji.

"Father, I'm perfectly fine." Bonji replied.

"When I heard that the Dawners had taken you, I feared that you would be dead for certain." Bonji let go of her father and allowed the king to see the Looney tunes, who were still kneeling.

"I owe my life to these brave warriors." The king walked forward to the group and looked at them.

"Rise, brave warriors." The king commanded. Everyone stood up and stood absolutely still as the king examined them. His face looked stern and in command. Everybody was very nervous; they had no idea of what the king was going to say.

"Which of you is your leader?" The king asked. Zach stepped forward a single step.

"I am the leader." Zach said. The king looked down at Zach with the same look he had been giving earlier. Zach was a little creeped out. After looking at Zach for a few seconds, the king smiled.

"I am king Platini IV. I thank you for saving my daughter from the Dawners."

"Your majesty, we did what was the right thing to do."

"Sir, what is your name?"

"My name is Zach."

"Zach, would you and your friends be interested in joining us for a feast tonight?"

"It would be an honour your majesty." Zach then turned around to face everybody else.

"I assume that none of you have any objections?" Zach asked.

"No objections." Everyone replied.

"Father, would they be allowed to stay in the castle for tonight?" Bonji asked.

"Is that what you want?" King Platini asked.

"There would be much we could teach them and vice versa."

"Very well then. Do you take up this offer?"

"Again, we would be honoured." Zach replied.

"How could we very well refuse an offer like that?" Daffy muttered under his breath. Bugs cast half a glare at him.

"Then it is settled." King Platini said. He turned to the two guards that were nearby.

"Prepare the guest rooms and inform the chefs that we have guests."

"Yes your highness." The guards replied. The two guards ran back towards the castle. King Platini and Princess Bonji were still with the Looney tunes.

"We shall escort you to the castle. Come with us." King Platini and Princess Bonji began to head back to the castle, with the Looney tunes following them. Everybody was relived that the discussion had gone well. They were amazed that the king had invited them to have a feast with him and that Bonji had invited them to stay the night in the castle.

* * *

The first room that the group entered when they arrived in the castle was the throne room. It was bigger than almost any other room that they had seen. The walls were decorated with red curtains with golden cats woven into the fabric. The rest of the walls were mostly white. There was a fine red carpet underneath their feet. This also had golden cat decorations woven into the fabric. At the far end of the room were several guards, all looking wounded. There was another cat sitting on one of the thrones, this one was a white female. She was wearing a white dress and a golden crown. She was obviously the queen. Next to her was an elderly male cat in a purple robe. He was mostly black and held a staff in his hand. Guards surrounded the two. When the queen saw the group, the king and the princess, she rose from her throne and ran over to the group, immediately hugging princess Bonji. The elderly cat followed her.

"Bonji, you're ok!" The queen exclaimed.

"Yes mother, I'm fine." Bonji replied

"But who are these other people that you and your father have brought?"

"They saved my life form the Dawners." The queen let go of Bonji and walked over to the group. Everyone but the king knelt down out of respect.

"You may stand noble warriors." The queen said almost immediately. Everyone stood up.

"I am queen Platini. I thank you for saving my daughter from the Dawners." The queen said.

"We did what was right." Zach replied.

"My lady, Princess Bonji has asked that these people stay in the castle for the night." King Platini said.

"Since they saved her life, I see no problem with it." Queen Platini replied.

"The chefs are already preparing a feast."

"Your majesty, as Vizier to the kingdom, I must stress my disapproval of this proposal." The elderly cat said. Daffy sneered before Bugs kicked him in the heel to quieten him down.

"If we allow just anybody to enter the castle, royal secrets could be leaked to the outside." The Vizier continued.

"Vizier, these people are heroes. They deserve to be rewarded." The king said.

"And besides, we would never leak any royal secrets." Zach added. The Vizier looked at him.

"Do you swear not to leak any secrets that you may learn?" The Vizier asked. Zach and the others out their hands on their chests.

"We swear!" Everyone replied.

"Very well. Even though I am still uneasy about it, I will not say any more." A guard came running up to the king. He whispered something in his ear and the king nodded. He then looked at the group.

"Ok, 5 guest rooms are prepared for you. I apologise that we don't have enough to accommodate all of you but most of the rooms are taken by our servants." King Platini said.

"It's no bother. We can share." Bugs replied.

"Very well. The feast will be in half an hour."

"Father, allow me to show them to their rooms." Bonji said.

"Very well Bonji." King Platini whispered the locations of the rooms into Princess Bonji's ear. Bonji simply nodded. The king walked away and then Bonji turned to the group.

"Ok guys, allow me to show you to your rooms." Bonji said.

* * *

The group followed Princess Bonji to a higher level in the castle. They had to go up several flights of stairs in the castle to reach the floor. It was a difficult climb but they eventually reached the rooms where they would be staying. The corridor they were in had the same decorations as the throne room. There were portraits of various figures, mostly cats. The five rooms that had been prepared were all in a line, so the group could have access to each other if need be.

"You don't have to worry about fairness. All of the rooms are identical." Bonji said before showing the group one of the rooms. The room was white with gold strands near the floor and ceiling. There were two single beds, with a red and gold pillow and duvet. There was also a wardrobe in the rooms. Each room also had an en-suit bathroom, much to everybody's relief. The bathroom had a bath, toilet and sink. As Bonji had said, each of the rooms were almost identical, with the objects in the room being in slightly different places.

"Wow, they're beautiful." Penelope exclaimed.

"They have everything that we'll be needing." Sylvester added.

"I see you like the rooms." Bonji said. Everybody nodded.

"I'll leave you to sort yourselves out and find you when the feast is ready." Bonji added.

"There will be vegetarian items won't there?" Jessica asked.

"Most of us are vegetarian." Tweety added.

"Of course there will be. I'd better go." Bonji replied. She winked at Sylvester Jr. before walking off. This made Sylvester Jr. nervous. Everybody was looking at each other now. They had a place to stay for the night but this would likely be a one-time thing. They wouldn't always get to rest in this luxury.

"Who would've thought that we'd be in this kind of luxury." Aaooga said.

"I just hate that Vizier." Daffy added.

"Because he doesn't like us?" Zach asked.

"He freaked me out as well." Sylvester Jr. added.

"Let's let it slide for the moment. We have some things to sort out." Jessica said. Everyone went into the room that they were just outside and sat around the room.

"Firstly, we should sort out who is going to carry what." Zach said.

"In what way?" Sylvester Jr. asked.

"It would be much easier if we allocate people to carry key items, equipment, healing items, the camp equipment etc."

"Who did you have in mind?" Sylvester asked.

"Would you like to carry the camp equipment?"

"I shouldn't have asked. Ok, I'll carry the camp equipment."

"Penelope, you can carry the healing items."

"What should I carry?" Bugs asked.

"Bugs, I can trust you with any key items that we find." Zach replied.

"Which leaves the equipment." Sylvester Jr. said.

"I'll carry them." Jessica said.

"Are you sure Jess?" Bugs asked.

"I'll be fine."

"If you say so."

"Why can't I carry anything?" Daffy asked.

"I don't trust you with valuable items like that."

"Why not?"

"I'd give you a list."

"Are you implying that I'm careless?"

"Remember that time you lost your ex-wife's egg and picked up a crocodile egg by mistake?" Tweety asked.

"Don't remind me."

"But that's exactly my point. I don't think I can trust you with valuable items." Zach said.

"What if I was extra careful?"

"Daffy, I thought that you guys set me as the group leader. What I say goes, ok!" Before Daffy could object again, Penelope readied her bow and aimed it at him. Tweety and Aaooga prepared to throw fireballs while Bugs whacked him on the back of the head. Daffy was forced to admit defeat.

"Ok, ok." Penelope put her bow away. Tweety and Aaooga extinguished the magic they had prepared.

"Now, what about the rooms?" Jessica asked.

"1 person can go alone. Everyone else will have to share." Penelope said.

"Ok, who wants to go in the single room?" Zach asked. Sylvester Jr. put his hand up but nobody else did.

"Ok son, you can go alone." Sylvester said.

"I'll share with Sylvester." Penelope added.

"Me and Tweety will share." Aaooga said.

"Which leaves just two rooms left to sort out." Bugs said.

"Considering what happened a minute ago, I'm not sure that I want to share with Daffy." Zach said.

"But who else could you share with?" Daffy asked.

"You could share with Jessica." Penelope suggested. Everybody looked at her.

"Isn't that kind of risky?" Sylvester asked.

"What harm could they do in virtual reality?"

"Are you two ok with that?" Bugs asked. Jessica and Zach looked at each other for a moment. They didn't really understand why Sylvester was concerned about the two of them sharing a room. But they hadn't even shared a room with anyone before, let alone each other. Finally, they looked up and nodded.

"We'll be fine." Zach said.

"I'm nervous about this." Sylvester Jr. muttered.


	5. The Dawners’ plan

**The Dawners' plan**

After sorting out the rooms and who was carrying the items, the group were called by princess Bonji. The feast was now ready. They followed the princess to the eating room. This room had the same decorations as the other rooms. In the centre of the room was a huge table on a red rug. The table was about 5 metres long and had several seats. A group of cats in chef's outfits were busy placing all of the food that was on a bunch of trolleys on the table. The king had made sure that there was no rabbit, duck or bird among the meat. The meat included pork, beef, mice and fish. The vegetables included carrots, lettuce, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, potatoes and tomatoes. Several places had been set to accommodate the group. There were two tall chairs that were like the thrones, obviously for the king and queen. There were also two similar chairs but a slightly different size. One was obviously for Princess Bonji but the group wasn't sure of whom the other chair was for. The group could see a huge selection of foods, half meat and half vegetables. The chefs finished setting the table and then left the room. Shortly after, King and Queen Platini, the vizier and another cat about the same size as princess Bonji came into the room from another door. This cat looked like Sylvester, without the red nose and he had brown eyes. He was dressed in a similar fashion to King Platini. This other cat approached Princess Bonji and the group. He looked at everybody with a strange look. It was both curious and creepy at the same time. There was also a small hint of anger in the eyes.

"So, you're our guests." The cat said.

"Forgive me, but I don't believe that we've met." Zach said.

"This is my brother, Prince Hercule." Bonji said.

"A pleasure to meet you Prince Hercule." Zach offered his hand to the Prince. Hercule took the hand and shook it.

"I hear that you saved my sister's life. You have my gratitude." Hercule replied. His eyes were now showing gratitude, but still some curiosity. He was looking at the whole group. He was admiring at how the group had the courage to stand up against the Dawners.

"Hercule, I'm assuming that you're the next in line for the throne. Is that right?" Jessica asked.

"No. Bonji is the next in line."

"Why is that?"

"In this land, it's always the older of the royal children that take priority for the throne, not always the men."

"And Bonji's older?"

"By one year." Bonji replied.

"No need to rub it in sis." Hercule muttered. Bonji just laughed. Hercule snorted and walked away from the group and to the table.

"I apologise for my brother's attitude. He's a little bitter about not being next in line for the throne."

"I know other people that get bitter." Bugs muttered. Daffy just flinched, blushed and said nothing. Everybody else laughed.

"Right, we'd better get seated." Sylvester said. Princess Bonji led the group to the table. Zach helped Jessica into a seat before sitting on the chair next to her. Similarly, Sylvester helped Penelope into a seat before sitting next to her. Sylvester Jr ended up sitting next to Princess Bonji, making him incredibly nervous. Jessica was sitting between Zach and Prince Hercule. Hercule kept looking at her, which made her a little nervous. King Platini had summoned a grey and white cat to the table. Saying nothing, the cat went around and took a tiny amount of all the food that had been offered.

"Food taster." Princess Bonji said before anybody could object. Everybody actually knew this and just nodded. After tasting everything, he bowed down and left, unharmed by the food. King Platini smiled at the result.

"Ok than, you may choose your food." King Platini announced.

* * *

Bugs, Jessica, Zach, Tweety and Aaooga all had vegetarian meals. Bugs, Jessica and Zach had mostly carrots but they had some of the other vegetables as well. Daffy's selection was mostly vegetarian but he did pick some fish to go with it. Sylvester, Penelope and Sylvester Jr. chose a mixture of everything, as did the members of the royal family. There were drinks of wine for the adults and berry juice for the youngsters. The meal was going perfectly well, without any problems. During the meal, Hercule kept looking at Jessica, creeping her out a little. Similarly, Bonji kept glancing at Sylvester Jr, making him nervous. During the meal, the king decided to make a discussion.

"So… where are you people from?" King Platini asked. Zach paused his meal to answer.

"We're from a town in a distant land. We travel the land as travellers." Zach replied.

"You are excellent warriors."

"During our journeys, we often encounter monsters. We have to keep our strength up."

"You certainly came to the right place at the right time to save our daughter." Queen Platini said.

"That was pure luck." Bugs said.

"We were actually coming for supplies." Jessica added.

"If you don't mind me saying, it's unusual for cats and canaries to be friends." Hercule said.

"We get that all of the time." Tweety replied.

"We've known each other since we were young. We grew up together so we've become good friends like that." Sylvester added.

"Your majesty, if you don't mind us asking, who exactly are the Dawners?" Jessica asked. King and Queen Platini, Princess Bonji, Prince Hercule and the vizier all did a double take and looked at the group.

"You were travelling through this land and you don't know who the Dawners are?" The vizier asked.

"Sorry, but we're new to the land."

"I suppose we'd better explain. The Dawners are a group of outlaws that seek to take control of the land." King Platini explained.

"They are responsible for all sorts of acts and then act like they rule the land." Queen Platini added.

"What is known about them?" Penelope asked.

"Very little. It is knowledge that they have five individual leaders known as the Dawner lords. A single lord who is simply referred to as the grand lord controls these lords. Nobody has any idea of the grand lords identity." Prince Hercule replied.

"This talk about the Dawners is reminding me of something." Princess Bonji said.

"What is it my dear?" Queen Platini asked.

"I know what the Dawners are up to."

"What do you mean?"

"They are trying to revive the ancient demonic dragon Satanus." The whole of the royal family gasped.

"No way!" Hercule exclaimed.

"Who is Satanus?" Zach asked. King Platini looked at the group.

"Brave travellers, I must ask for your help." King Platini said.

"How can we help?"

"It appears that your band has the potential to stand toe to toe to the Dawners. I must ask that you prevent the resurrection of Satanus and defeat them once and for all."

"We shall aid your cause." Everyone else in the group nodded.

"Thank you brave travellers." King Platini then looked at Princess Bonji.

"Bonji, once the feast is finished, take our guests to the library and explain to them what you know and explain about Satanus." King Platini instructed.

"As you wish father." Bonji replied.

"Are you sure you can defeat the Dawners by yourselves?" The vizier asked.

"We'll do that or die trying." Daffy replied.

"If you insist."

* * *

After the feast had finished, Princess Bonji led the group into the castle library. This was one of the biggest rooms in the castle. There were several giant bookcases, each about 3 metres high. Each bookcase was stacked with several old looking books. In the centre was a very large table with several chairs. The room was purely red with a little silver and no white at all. The group went into the library and looked around in awe. They had never seen a library as big as this ever before.

"Wow. Think of all of the knowledge that is contained in this room." Bugs exclaimed.

"Finding a certain piece of information in this room is not going to be easy." Aaooga added. Princess Bonji meanwhile had gotten out an old history book from one of the shelves. The book was titled 'old legends of Lazreat'. Bonji went over to the desk, blew some dust off of the book and opened it. The others decided to join her. Bonji had found a page with a picture of a black evil looking dragon with three piercing red eyes, a razor-like tail and wicked wings. It also had four limbs, each with razor sharp claws.

"This is an artists impression of Satanus based on eye-witness descriptions when it first appeared." Bonji explained.

"When did it first appear and what did it do?" Sylvester Jr. asked. Bonji looked at the book and began reading the text next to the picture.

"Satanus first appeared around 3'000 years ago. It was created from the bones of an ancient dragon when they were enchanted with powerful dark magic. It is believed that Satanus was created by the devil himself. When it first appeared, the world was nearly reduced to ruins by the hellfire it created and an army of demons it brought from the underworld. The world was enslaved in darkness, hellfire, terror and chaos for 1'500 years."

"So what happened to it?" Jessica asked. Bonji kept on reading the book.

"Eventually, a holy warrior sent by god came down from the heavens. The warrior was wielding weapons and armour that were coated with the seven colours of the rainbow…" Bonji turned the page and there was a picture of a noble angel with rainbow coloured wings wearing armour and wielding a shield and sword. The arms were coloured in the seven colours of the rainbow. There were also seven stones surrounding him, also of the seven colours of the rainbow.

"The warrior used the weapons, armor and seven stones to seal the dragon deep underground. The warrior then placed a seal, which could only be broken when the seven stones were placed at the seal. The seven stones, which were named the rainbow stones, were then scattered around the land, each hidden in seven temples. Each temple guarded by a series of traps and creatures. The weapons and armour used by the warrior were named the rainbow arms. These arms were placed in a special temple called the rainbow temple, built over the resting place of Satanus and guarded by a force field projected from each of the temples where the rainbow stones lay. This was set up so that if Satanus was ever unleashed again, the rainbow arms could be used to vanquish the dragon. Even now, the powers of what have been dubbed the rainbow artefacts are a complete mystery."

"So the Dawners plan to find the rainbow stones and use them to unleash Satanus." Bugs reasoned. Bonji nodded.

"You were rallying armies to try and get rid of them weren't you?" Daffy asked.

"That's why the Dawners tried to hang you." Bugs added.

"That was only half of it." Bonji replied.

"What's the other half?" Zach asked.

"I know where the seven temples are. The Dawners approached me and demanded that I show them where the temples were. I told them in no uncertain terms that I would rather die. That is the other reason why they tried to have me hanged."

"But when we arrived and saved your life, their plans were thrown in a bit of a loop." Jessica said.

"I don't quite understand the seal to the rainbow temple though." Daffy said.

"To put it simply, the rainbow stones project a shield from their resting places around the rainbow temple. When all of the stones are removed from their resting places, the shield will disappear and the rainbow temple will become accessible, and so will Satanus." Bonji explained.

"So what we need to do is find the rainbow stones before the Dawners do." Sylvester said.

"Exactly. Once you have the rainbow stones, you can use the rainbow arms. They will be strong enough to defeat the Dawners before they can unleash Satanus."

"Does anybody else know where the temples are?" Tweety asked.

"I really don't know."

"I hope not." Aaooga said.

"Bonji, if your father will let you, would you come with us and guide us to the temples?" Zach asked.

"Is that a good idea?" Penelope asked.

"If she comes with us, she can guide us to the temples and we'll be able to protect her from the Dawners."

"I see the logic." Bugs said.

"I'll ask my mother and father in the morning." Bonji replied.

"Ok then. Thanks."

"I think we should be heading to bed guys. We've got a big journey ahead of us." Sylvester said.

"That's a wise suggestion. By the time we get to our rooms, it will be late" Bugs replied.

"Do you want me to guide you back?" Bonji asked.

"Are you sure? We don't want to be a burden." Jessica asked.

"It's no bother."

* * *

By the time the group had returned to their rooms, they were all extremely tired. The day had been exhausting for their first virtual day. They had no idea of how much time had passed in the real world. They would only find out when they would eventually get out of the game. Everybody had gone into his or her individual rooms that had been allocated earlier to get some well-earned rest. As soon as Jessica entered the room she was sharing with Zach, she went onto one of the bed, placed her sword under the bed and collapsed onto it. It was very unusual for her to be so tired. She was going to fall asleep when Zach rubbed her on the shoulder. She sat up and smiled at him.

"It's unlike you to be tired." Zach said.

"I'm just not used to using magic." Jessica replied.

"Magic is tiring you out?"

"It's not as easy as you'd think, using magic. I'll be ok when I'm used to it."

"I wonder if Shirley had similar problems?"

"She might have done. We'll ask her when we get back."

"Jess, before we head off tomorrow, I was thinking that we'd go around the town and stock up on supplies and equipment."

"I agree. Our current weapons and armour are a little weedy. We'll need the best that we can get."

"But if this is a typical RPG, we'll also find items and weapons in the temples."

"Zach, just a thought."

"What is it Jessica?"

"Since we have such a large group, would it be wise to split into parties when we're in the temples?"

"I suppose it would depend on the temple. If Bonji comes with us, we'd need to keep her under heavy guard though."

"On that subject, I noticed how she kept looking at Sylvester Jr."

"Just like Prince Hercule kept looking at you."

"I know. If he likes me, he's in for a big disappointment."

"What are you saying about Bonji?"

"I think she might like Sylvester Jr."

"Interesting. I thought Sylvester Jr. liked somebody else though."

"We'll see what develops."

"Jess, about my role as leader of the group."

"What about it?"

"Would you object if I make you deputy leader?"

"No, I wouldn't object."

"Thanks Jess." Zach sat on Jessica's bed next to her. Jessica looked at him and pulled him into a hug. Jessica was tired so she had decided to make this quick in her mind. She knew that Zach wouldn't mind anyway. The two looked at the door to check that it was closed, which it was. Satisfied, they leant in close and kissed each other. They held onto each other tightly and held the kiss for about 10 minutes before Jessica fell asleep in Zach's arms. Zach smiled and laid her on her bed. He gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Goodnight my princess." Zach whispered before going over to his bed, placing his sword and shield under the bed and lying on top of it. It didn't take long before he fell asleep as well.


	6. Night time attack

((I would like to credit Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro in this chapter for allowing me to use one of his Fan characters. I still intend to use the other that he sent, but not until a later chapter. If he seems Out of Character Acosta, please let me know.))

**Night time attack**

Jessica was having the same trouble that her father had during the night. No matter how nice the place was, even if it was a house of royal residence, she just could not sleep in a strange bed. She found herself tossing and turning in the bed, struggling to get to sleep. Her rolling around woke up Zach. He looked over at Jessica's bed and saw her rolling around. Curious, he climbed out of bed and went over to Jessica's bed. He stopped her rolling by putting a hand on her shoulder. She stopped rolling and nearly leapt out of her skin. When she saw Zach, she stared at him daggers, not happy about being disturbed. Zach gave her a reassuring rub on the shoulder, getting a smile in return.

"Can't sleep?" Zach asked. Jessica nodded in response.

"It's a family thing. I can't sleep in a strange bed no matter how nice the place is. My dad's the same." Jessica replied, pausing for a thought for a moment. "It doesn't help that I'm not used to going to bed so early." Zach just nodded. He understood the reason for not being able to sleep. He was silently anxious about things in reality, even though in reality time period, they had only been in the game for about 5 minutes. He wondered up to the window and had a look outside. The sky was clear and littered with stars. The view looked out over the city. The view took Zach's breath away, especially when he looked up into the sly again and saw a half moon. The sight reminded him of the night that he had with Jessica after he became her sidekick as cub, soon after they had defeated the Pranker for the first time. They sat together and looked at a similar skyline. Zach became caught up in nostalgia, and didn't notice Jessica join him. He only noticed that she was next to him when she put a hand on his shoulder. In truth, he was expecting it and simply turned around to face her. With a smile, she walked up to the window and had a look outside. Zach looked out with her and put an arm around her. She responded by snuggling closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Some view isn't it?" Jessica asked. Zach stroked the top of her head in a loving fashion while nodding his head in agreement.

"Reminds me of some of the nights we've had together." Zach said, not going into any greater detail. Jessica nodded in response, knowing what he meant. She quickly gave him a loving look and then looked back at the view. She was still unable to sleep and was hoping that the view would be able to help her sleep. She looked up into the sky and across the town, still leaning her head on Zach's shoulder. It was another of those moments that she wished could last forever. At the same time, she wanted to get some sleep so she would have some energy for the following day. Nobody had any idea when the Dawners would make their next move. As long as Bonji remained at the castle, she was in danger from them. Zach, in his head, intended to leave in the morning to begin their journey to defeat them. Truth be told, he was a little worried about leaving the castle to fend for itself but there was little other option. Zach then felt Jessica wrap an arm around his back. She could sense that he was uncomfortable somehow and was trying to comfort him. Zach moved his hand from the top of her head to around her back. She then did a swivel in his arm to turn and face him, lifting her head off his shoulder.

"Zach, what do you think we'll be up against in this?" Jessica asked. Zach shrugged his shoulders while holding onto Jessica's.

"In this world, we could end up against anything." Zach replied before giving Jessica a hug. Jessica returned the hug and moved as close to Zach as she could, like she had done so many times before. She then gave him the most loving look she could before planting a small kiss on his cheek.

"You know this already, but I really do love you Zach." With that, Jessica leaned in closer to Zach and kissed him on the lips. Zach saw it coming and kissed back, making it passionate. The kiss, sadly, was interrupted when an arrow flew through the window, flew just over their heads and hit the opposite wall. Both rabbits stopped their kiss and looked at the arrow, Jessica with a look of anger.

"When I find out who fired that arrow, I will tear them to pieces for spoiling that moment." Jessica scolded before they both went over to the arrow. Zach leapt up at the arrow and pulled it out of the wall. There was a note attached to the back. Out of sheer curiosity, Zach took the note and read it aloud.

"'This letter is addressed to the leader of the group of rebels who prevented the execution of Princess Bonji. If you read this note, I want you to come to the town square now. Bring yourself and one other companion. If you refuse, I will launch a full-scale attack on the castle. You have 5 minutes to comply.' Looks like somebody holds a grudge about what we did." Zach said. He screwed up the note and went to his bed, taking out his equipment from under the bed.

"Are you really going?" Jessica asked. Zach nodded.

"If I don't, whoever wrote this is going to attack the castle. I don't want the princess to be harmed. Are you coming with me?" Jessica nodded and grabbed her equipment from under her bed.

"Do you really need to ask such a question?"

* * *

Both rabbits, fully geared up and prepared for a potential battle, went to the town square as the note requested. It had taken them 4 and a half minutes, leaving them 30 seconds to spare. Both rabbits were holding onto their weapons tightly, and ready to fight whoever sent the note. It seemed that whoever sent the note has extremely hostile intent. They didn't need to wait long for the figure to arrive. It was Lord Claudia, fully recovered from the wound he had been given before. A very large member of the Dawners accompanied him. This other man was heavily armored and used a ball and chain as his primary weapon. Upon seeing Lord Claudia, both Jessica and Zach took a step backwards and prepared to fight. Lord Claudia gave a chuckle.

"Being a bit hasty aren't we rabbits?" Claudia asked. Zach sneered at the Dawner lord.

"Whatever you say, we have no intention of joining you." Zach scolded. Claudia grew a frown.

"I was afraid you'd say that vermin. But I am willing to give you a chance. If you decide to hand over the princess, I will spare the town and all of the citizens. If you refuse, I will unleash Magmurn here to destroy everything and everyone, starting with you." Magmurn readied his ball and chain and spun it in the air, ready to attack. Zach scowled while Jessica grew a smirk.

"How about option 3?" Jessica asked. Claudia grew another frown.

"What is option 3 vermin?" Jessica readied her weapon and pointed it at both Claudia and Magmurn.

"Option 3 is that we refuse and defeat you in combat." Jessica already had a plan formulated in her mind. She could tell just by looking at Magmurn that he would be a slow fighter, something that both her and Zach could take advantage of with ease. Zach seemed to have the same idea, and shifted to a battle position. Claudia frowned and took a step back.

"A very disappointing decision, but I am not worried. Magmurn, turn this town into rubble!" Magmurn stepped forward and slammed his ball and chain forward, trying to crush both rabbits. The attack was evaded easily and Zach moved in closer to launch an attack of his own. He slashed at the armor with his sword, but the sword bounced off harmlessly. Magmurn suddenly slammed Zach with his fist. Zach was unable to block and was knocked down to the floor. He was about to crush him with his steel ball but was interrupted by a magic attack, courtesy of Jessica.

"Fireball!" Jessica shouted, aiming at Magmurn. The fireball that was fired found its mark and prevented the attack, even if it seemed like it didn't do very much damage. Magmurn then swung his steel ball at Jessica. Jessica jumped to avoid it and then brought her sword down into Magmurn's head. This attack also didn't seem to do very much damage, and Magmurn was able to land a vicious punch to Jessica's side, knocking her to the floor. "He's faster than I thought." Jessica thought to herself. She took a few steps back and used another spell. "Recover." Jessica used her recover spell to heal the damage that she had taken, especially since Zach was now back on his feet. He went next to Jessica and readied his shield.

"He's fast and strong." Zach commented.

"We need to find some kind of weakness." Jessica added.

* * *

Magmurn had prepared another ball and chain attack at the two Rabbits. The rabbits readied their weapons and prepared to launch a counter attack. They were going to wait until the last minute, then dodge and attack during the recovery time that Magmurn needed after using his ball and chain attack, since that seemed to be their only opening. They also needed to find something that would harm Magmurn. Magmurn prepared to throw his ball, and the Rabbits prepared to dodge. Before anything else could happen though, another figure joined the battle. The figure leapt at Magmurn's side and hit him with a sword very similar to the one Jessica was using, just as Magmurn was throwing his ball. The attack seemed to throw Magmurn's aim off and it completely missed. The figure that had launched the surprise attack then landed next to Zach. The figure was a Wolf, slightly taller than both Jessica and Zach. The wolf had a white muzzle and wearing white gloves. The tip of the wolf's tail was also black, making it hard to see in the limited light.

"Are you two rabbits ok?" The wolf asked. Neither Zach nor Jessica could say anything. They had been saved by a wolf; a creature that they had come to distrust over the years. The wolf looked at Magmurn and now at Claudius. "Who would've thought that you would launch an attack during the night." Claudius growled at the wolf.

"Wolf, you are interrupting a private battle. Leave or I will crush you!" Claudius threatened. The wolf didn't make any movement. Instead, he readied his sword and aimed it at Claudius and Magmurn.

"I help the side of justice, not the side of evil." To prove his point, the wolf aimed his free hand at Magmurn. "Lightning!" With that cry, a bolt of lightning came crashing down on Magmurn, seeming to cause immense damage. Zach took the cue and launched a full-scale attack at Magmurn, eventually knocking him to the floor. Now it was Jessica's turn to deliver a finishing blow.

"Bloody spear!" Jessica shouted. A dark spear surrounded Magmurn and delivered heavy damage. This blow actually killing the giant warrior and causing him to dissolve like all other defeated enemies. Zach then aimed his sword at Claudius.

"Claudius, you're next!" Zach said with a growl. Claudia cracked an evil smile and began to retreat.

"If you really want to battle me, come to my base to the west. I'll be waiting for all of you." Claudia said. With that, Claudia walked back a bit and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Both Jessica and Zach turned to the Wolf and took a few steps back. They put their weapons away but were holding onto them as a precaution. They did not trust wolves, even though this one had saved them. The wolf put his weapon away and tried to walk closer, seeming to sense a bit of hostility from the rabbits.

"Please you two, I don't mean you any harm. I just want to help." The wolf said in an incredibly polite tone. The rabbits loosened their grip but didn't let go of their weapons, still very weary of the wolf.

"Wolf, we do appreciate the save, but know that we don't trust wolves too well." Zach said. The wolf nodded understandably.

"I really don't blame you. There are some wolves that are very dangerous and mean. Please believe me when I say that I am not one of them. I want to get rid of the Dawners as much as you do." Jessica reluctantly decided to believe him and let go of her weapon. With a huge amount of nervousness and caution, she offered her hand in friendship to the wolf.

"Hi there, my name's Jessica Bunny." Jessica introduced. Taking Jessica's lead, Zach let go of his weapon and offered his hand in friendship.

"Please, just call me Zach." Zach introduced. The wolf shook both hands, accepting the offer of friendship.

"My name is Wallace Wolf, but please, just call me Wally." Wally introduced.

"Where are you staying Wally?" Jessica asked. Wally pointed out a nearby Inn.

"Just in that Inn. Why?"

"Tomorrow morning, wait here and you can meet the rest of our group. We're planning to fight against the Dawners, and you can join us if you want." Zach nodded in agreement, thinking that it was a good idea.

"Sure, I'll come with you. Thank you for considering me. I'll see you here tomorrow." With that, Wally gave a friendly handshake to Jessica and Zach before returning to the inn. Jessica and Zach turned around and went back to the castle, with a few feelings on finding an ally that would join them against the Dawners.


	7. Meet the wolf

(A/N: The most I can do is apologise for this delay. I needed to get some detalis sorted straight. Acosta, please let me know if Wally seems Out Of Character)

**Meet the wolf **

The next morning, the whole gang were in the dining room of the castle having their morning breakfast. Both Jessica and Zach had found that they had both levelled up, with Jessica learning the lightning spell with the level up. She was silently very happy about the development, since she now had a way of attacking armored enemies for heavy damage. They hadn't yet told the group about the incident the previous night, but thought that it would be brought up at some point, since somebody had to have noticed what was going on. Besides, they would have to mention Wally eventually. Hercule was at the table, as was the vizier, but Bonji and her parents were not. Bonji was talking to them away from the others about her going with the group. She knew that she would be deeply worried about the talk, but it was for the good of the land. Everybody was nervous about what the decision was going to be. Either way, a morning routine had been devised. After breakfast, the group were going to look around the town to buy some new equipment and items. The gold they had had been counted that morning. They had a total of 27'000 gold, which they hoped was enough for some new equipment, items and food to last until they reached the next town. Zach was sitting in between Jessica and Hercule, presumably to prevent any feelings from him getting to her. The vizier was simply sitting next to where the king would normally sit. The food hadn't arrived yet, since the king, queen and Bonji hadn't arrived yet. It wasn't very long until they did, shortly followed by the breakfast. There was a selection of toast, cereals and juice. There were also a few meat products and some chicken eggs. Before everyone could eat, the food taster had a taste of the food. King Platini then addressed the group.

"Bonji tells me that you suggested that she go with you to guide you in your quest to stop the Dawners." The king spoke. Zach nodded in response.

"I request that your daughter come so she can guide us to where the rainbow stones lie. If we find them before the Dawners' do, we can protect them." Zach explained.

"And we'll be better able to protect her from the Dawners'. Bugs added. King Platini nodded.

"I am a little concerned though. The world outside the city is very dangerous. For instance, the forest to the west is home to a group of warrior women that will attack anyone who ventures in the forest."

"You mean amazons?" Daffy asked. The royal family grew looks of puzzlement. Bugs elbowed Daffy in the side as a result.

"Daffy, they won't have Amazon ladies here. They'll be called something else." Bugs said.

"Indeed. We call them Wikas." Hercule explained.

"Wikas are very protective of their forests. It is said that their strongest warrior can bring down a whole city with her bare hands." Bonji added. The whole group gave a very nervous gulp. "Of course, it's an unconfirmed rumour, and most likely an exaggeration." Bonji added quickly.

"I hope it'sth an exaggeration." Sylvester said.

"Come on father, you can stand up to warrior ladies. Nobody can beat you father." Sylvester Jr. suddenly said, making everybody laugh while Sylvester just buried his head in his hands.

"If we're lucky, we may never see them." Tweety suggested.

"But knowing my lucketh, we'll run into the hidden villageth." Daffy added.

"Which is why you won't be the guide daff." Bugs finished.

"You're going to have to at some point. They guard one of the temples where one of the rainbow stones rests." Bonji pointed out. Daffy gave a big sigh.

"Sheesh. We'll haveth warrior maidenseth breathing down our neckths." Daffy said.

"Unless we can winth their trustspth." Sylvester suggested.

"Easier said than done. They distrust all males. Even the Dawners have trouble with them." Hercule pointed out.

"Back to the question at hand." Queen Platini interrupted, realising that the topic has strayed. Everybody turned to look at her.

"Come on, let her go. If it could get rid of the Dawners for good, it's a good idea." Hercule said. King Platini nodded.

"That's what I was thinking Hercule. I will allow Bonji to travel, but know this. If anything happens to her, there will be dire consequences." The king finally said. There was a sudden clash of thunder outside, even though the weather was clear.

"Clichéd dramatic effect." Jessica thought to herself.

"You do not need to worry your majesty. Princess Bonji will return to you unharmed." Zach said. King Platini nodded in response

"Very well. Now we shall eat." The king replied.

* * *

After eating, the group went into the town centre. The incident the previous night appeared to have gone unnoticed. Business was carrying on within the town as usual. There were several stores around the town centre. Some sold weapons, others sold armor, others sold useful items and others had everyday items such as food. The group's funds had been divided out equally between all of the members, other than with the princess, since she had her own funds. Everyone had 2'900 to spend on equipment. This left 900 to spare, which was given to Penelope when they reached the town centre, which started a huge amount of ranting from Daffy. The moment he saw Penelope get the extra money from Zach, he began jumping up and down on the spot.

"WHAT! She gets more money than me? She'sth an archer. I need the extra money. What's sheth doing that I'm noteth?" Daffy asked in a huge rant, earning him a huge glare from everybody.

"She's buying the food that we'll need on the trip. We need food to keep out strength up Daffy!" Aaooga scolded. Daffy didn't shut up though.

"But Penelope? She'll spendeth too much time looking at armor! She'lleth…" Daffy wouldn't continued if Penelope hadn't shot him in the foot with one of her arrows. Daffy yelped in pain and glared daggers at Penelope, who simply shrugged.

"Daffy, we went through this last night. Food counts as healing items and I'm carrying them." Penelope said.

"Oh, do I need to settle some internal strife?" A voice asked. The voice was one that Jessica and Zach recognised immediately from the previous night. Everybody else looked around with a look of bewilderment before they finally saw where the voice had come from. Wally wolf, in the attire he was in the previous night, had found the group. Like the rest of the group, he had a quest log and a bag of equipment and items. Level wise, he was the same level as Jessica and Zach, but had been involved in a few more battles so had a higher level of experience. He was one level higher than everyone else though. Zach went over to Wally and gave him a friendly handshake as a greeting. "This the rest of the group?" Wally asked. Zach nodded while Jessica pointed to everybody.

"Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Penelope, Tweety, Aaooga, Sylvester Junior and…" Jessica began to introduce before Bonji finished.

"Princess Bonji." Bonji greeted. Wally gave a polite bow at the princess.

"A pleasure to meet you your majesty." Wally said. Bonji gave a small smile and put a hand on Wally's shoulder.

"Please, you don't have to be so proper." Wally nodded in response.

"Jess, how do you know this guy?" Bugs asked. Jessica and Zach looked at each other before turning back to the group.

"Last night, we were unable to sleep. While we were trying to get to sleep, an arrow flew into our room. A note attached to it brought us here last night." Jessica began.

"Lord Claudius was waiting there with a powerful Dawner warrior. He demanded that we hand over Bonji or he'd destroy the town. We refused and began to battle, but we weren't able to do much against the warrior." Zach continued. Wally then finished the story for the benefit of the others.

"I saw what was happening from the window of my room and saved the two from an attack and helped them fight Claudius off." Wally finished. Bonji put a hand on Wally's shoulder again.

"I thank you in assisting these warriors in fighting off Claudius." Bonji spoke.

"We've invited him to come along with us. We're pretty much on similar business regarding the Dawners, and he has helpful abilities." Zach said.

'Even though he is the same fighter class as me.' Jessica thought to herself. Bugs placed a hand on Wally's shoulder.

"Wally, it's good to have you on board the team." Bugs greeted, finishing by offering a hand in friendship. Wally accepted the handshake quickly.

"It's good to be on such a team." Wally said finally. Zach then clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Ok, we'll be leaving in 30 minutes. We use that time to stock up on supplies and armor." Zach instructed, before turning to Wally. "Do you have your own funds?" Wally nodded in response.

"I have my own funds, but I'll put my funds with what funds you have later." Wally said. Zach nodded before turning to Princess Bonji.

"Bonji, it's dangerous to let you go on your own. If you go with…" Zach paused to look around the group to decide on who would be most suitable to be with her. "…Sylvester Jr. If you go with Sly Jr, you should be fine." Bonji nodded and grew a laugh when she saw Sylvester Jr. hiding his face in his hands. Everybody chuckled at the sight, knowing what the problem was.

* * *

The group soon split up to look around all of the merchandise the town had to offer. Jessica decided to go with Wally, since they were both the same class and each class had a separate shop assigned to them. They were in the magic swordsmen store, which was near the entrance of the city. The shop was fairly quiet, since there were few magic swordsmen and women. The walls were aligned with armor and swords were hanging on the wall. Each one had a price tag. There were a few other magic items in the store as well. Wally went over to have a look at them while Jessica went over to the swords. One particular sword hanging on the wall caught her eye. It was colored red and had small stars engraved on the blade. On the hilt, there was a symbol of a dagger. She didn't touch the sword but just looked at it while contemplating whether she should buy it. She had 2,900 gold and the sword was 1,500 gold. She could afford the sword but saw that armor cost about the same, meaning that she might not be able to afford both the sword and some good armor. While she was deciding, she felt a hand touch her on her shoulder. In defence, she jumped around instantly and came face to face with the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was a Lion with a brown mane and a brown cloak. He looked down at Jessica and then at the sword she was looking at.

"You have excellent taste lady. That is a sharpen sword." The shopkeeper spoke. Jessica's ears pricked up at the mention of the name.

"A sharpen sword?" Jessica asked. The shopkeeper took down the sword and gave it to Jessica.

"It has more power than the current weapon you have and is infused with the spell Sharpen." Jessica's ears pricked up again.

"Sharpen. That's the spell that raises physical attack isn't it?" The shopkeeper nodded.

"A spell that magic swordswomen like you cannot normally use." Jessica looked down at the sword and then back up at the shopkeeper.

"What does it mean when a sword is infused with a spell?" The shopkeeper put a hand on the hilt of the sword gently.

"If a sword has been infused with a spell, you can use said spell by gripping the hilt of the sword tightly, focusing into the sword and saying the name of the spell. Only swords that magic swordsmen or women can be infused with spells." Jessica's eyes lit up. The sword she was looking at had an excellent use. She immediately gave the sword to the shopkeeper and began fishing enough gold to buy the sword.

"I'll buy it." The shopkeeper looked at the gold in Jessica's hands and smiled.  
"An excellent choice young lady. If you wish, you can save money by trading in your old weapon with your purchase. All shop that deal in weapons will allow you to do that." Upon hearing that, Jessica took out her weapon and showed it to the shopkeeper. He took the sword and looked at it with interest.

"I see. This sword deducts 200 gold from the sword price. Is that ok with you?" Jessica figured that she wouldn't get much for her old weapon, but she was getting a much better weapon in return.

"It's a deal." Jessica handed the shopkeeper 1,300 gold and her old weapon. The shopkeeper took the payment, pocketed the gold and out the old sword in his cloak. Jessica put her new weapon in the holder that held her old weapon.

"An excellent purchase young lady. Now perhaps you would like some new armor as well." The shopkeeper began walking towards the armor. Jessica began to follow out of interest. She would probably have enough money to buy some decent armor now. When they reached the armor, the shopkeeper looked down at Jessica. "How much gold have you got spare?" Jessica fished through her bag and took out what gold she had on her.

"1,600 gold." Jessica said in response. The shopkeeper looked at the armor hanging on the wall. He eventually picked up some white armor with green symbols embedded in the armor.

"This is gale armor. It is a little stronger than what you have equipped right now and has a special resistance to wind spells. It costs 1,500 gold." The shopkeeper explained, pausing briefly. "And before you ask, I can accept armor trade-ins. There's a changing room just over there." The shopkeeper pointed to a door near the back as he spoke. The door, as he said, led to a changing room. "What type of armor do you have under that cloak?" The shopkeeper asked.

"It's just simple wooden armor." Jessica replied. The shopkeeper went into thought for a moment before finally saying the final price.

"The gale armor would costs 1,400 if you traded in your old armor." Jessica nodded and gave a smile.

"Another deal." The shopkeeper smiled and walked over to the changing room. Jessica followed him and went inside, giving him the 1,400 for the armor. She then went into the changing room, took off her armor and handed it outside. The shopkeeper took the old armor and gave her the fresh armor. Jessica soon came out with the new armor in the place of the old armor, but she still had her robe over the top. She had 200 gold left, some new armor and a new weapon. She already felt stronger. Now she would have to wait for Wally to make up his mind about what he wanted.


	8. To the forest

**To the forest**

Sylvester Jr. had been given the task with looking after Princess Bonji while they were walking around the town. At the same time though, the kitten was looking out for a new weapon. The two cats were in the store that sold axes and armor. Bonji was standing near the entrance while Sylvester Jr. did his shopping. He was looking at a particular axe hanging on the wall. Each axe came with a dagger made of the same material as the axe. The axe he was looking at had a wooden handle, but the blade was made of steel, like his current axe. The big differences were that the blade was bigger, the handle was longer and there were some flames engraved in the blade. The longer handle and the larger blade would give the kitten longer reach and obviously deal more damage, but he didn't know what the flames were for. The dagger that came with it was very similar to the one he currently had, except it had flames engraved on the blade, like the axe. The pair had a price tag of 1,600. If he brought it, he would have 1,300 left for armor. While the kitten was contemplating whether he should go for something cheaper, Bonji went up next to him and looked at the axe.

"Having trouble making a decision axe boy?" Bonji asked playfully. Sylvester Jr. quickly looked over at her, surprised that she had come up to have a look. He quickly turned his head away to hide a small blush, making the princess laugh. Sylvester Jr. was silently thankful that they were the only two in the shop. Bonji looked up at the axe and gave it a good looking over. Sylvester Jr. looked at the princess, wondering why she was interested in an axe and dagger combo. "Flare axe and dagger. High attack power and adds fire damage. If the target has a fire weakness, it will be very powerful, but against something with a fire resistance, it becomes a mediocre weapon." Bonji suddenly spoke, nearly making Sylvester Jr. jump out of his skin.

"How do you know what kind of weapon that is?" The kitten asked. The princess gave the kitten a friendly smile.

"I can identify any magic item just by looking at it. It's one of my special abilities." Sylvester Jr. smiled at the princess before fishing out his gold ration, finishing with a heavy sigh.

"If I buy this weapon, I won't be able to afford the armor I saw earlier. It cost 1,400 and if I brought this, I'd only have 1,300 left." The kitten spoke, before turning to look at the princess. "What would you suggest?" Bonji gently patted the kitten's current weapon, causing him to take it in hand.

"In any weapon shop, you can trade in your current weapon to reduce the price of the weapon you want to buy. The same applies for armor." The princess said. The kitten nodded and looked through his gold.

"So if I traded in my old weapon, how much would the Flare axe and dagger cost?" The kitten thought aloud.

"If I can see your current weapons, I can tell you." A voice from behind both said. Both cats turned around and saw a well-built wolf behind them. The wolf was mostly brown and had a red robe on. "Forgive my rudeness. I'm the shopkeeper of this store." The shopkeeper than looked down at Sylvester Jr, making the kitten a little nervous. "You're one of the group that saved the young princess yesterday aren't you?" The kitten nervously nodded in response. The wolf gave a smile and put a hand on the kitten's shoulder. "In which case, I'll give you a special discount. That weapon you were interested in, plus any piece of armor you want for only 2,400 and your old weapons and armor." The kitten's eyes lit up instantly. He immediately took out 2,400 gold from his rations and took out his old weapons. The shopkeeper took the old weapons and gave the Flare axe and dagger to the kitten. "Now, which armor do you want?" Sylvester Jr. went over to where the different pieces of armor were hung up. The one he was interested in before was a purple shirt with a metal undercover. "Ah, the lightning shirt. A good choice. It provides you with extra defence against electric element spells. Now if you'd like to change out of your old armor over there…" The shopkeeper pointed to a changing room next to the armor. The kitten took the lightning shirt and went inside, giving the shopkeeper a moment with princess Bonji. "So your highness, I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you intend to marry this feline?" Bonji blushed madly and turned away quickly.

"Sir, I only met him yesterday. It's far too early to make any commitments." The princess snapped suddenly. The shopkeeper suddenly turned defensive.

"My apologies your highness." Soon after that, Sylvester Jr. came out of the changing room wearing the new armor. He gave the old armor to the shopkeeper along with 2,400 gold. He had now paid for his new equipment. Bonji suddenly grabbed the kitten by the arm and began practically dragging him to the exit.

"Now that you're done, I'd like to leave before that shopkeeper calls my father to make wedding arrangements." The princess said in a foul tone. Sylvester Jr. didn't argue and left with her, leaving the shopkeeper sniggering as they left.

* * *

After the agreed time was up, the whole group met up with what equipment they had brought. Penelope had also brought a supply of food to last as long as would be deemed necessary. Bugs had two brand new swords, each with a steel blade, but of a much stronger quality than his old swords. He also had a chain mail shirt underneath his tunic. Daffy now had iron gauntlets where he had leather gauntlets before. Both the canaries now had small staffs, each one with magic runes carved into them. They also had different cloaks. They were the same color, but had magic symbols engraved in the fabric. Sylvester had a new cloak, also with mystic symbols in the fabric and had a staff very similar to the canaries, except it was longer and had a curved ending. Zach now had chain mail armor and a sword made of iron combined with an iron shield. Penelope still had the same bow, but she had stronger arrows. They had a steel tip and she also had some with a green tip. These arrows were tipped with a toxin that would induce poisoning if they hit their target, even though they did much less initial damage than the steel tipped arrows. She had 25 steel tipped arrows and 5 poison arrows. Bonji had brought herself a focus necklace, which allowed her to cast more powerful spells in return for a delay in casting. She also wore a magic cloak under her main dress, giving her some defence and increasing her magic powers. Wally had equipped himself with different armor and weapon to what Jessica had chosen. He had a weapon that allowed him to cast calm mind instead of sharpen. Armor wise, he had armor that resisted dark spells. In truth, he had wanted some wind aligned weapons but there were none available. Wally had now combined the funds he had with that of the rest of the group. They had a total of 5,000 gold left, including what gold Wally had left over, which they were going to spend on some extra healing items such as wisdom berries, water and similar items. The group were now discussing where they should go next.

"Bonji, where is the nearesth temple that containseth a rainbow stoneth?" Sylvester asked. Bonji had a quick think and then came up with an answer.

"It's to the west. It's the one guarded by the Wikas." Bonji replied.

"It's also on the way to Lord Claudius' base." Jessica added.

"He challenged us when we beat his minion last night." Zach added.

"Sorry, I'm not going to the Dawners' base." Bonji snapped. Zach put a hand on the princess's shoulder to comfort her.

"We weren't asking you to. We'll hide you when we head to the base." Bonji gave a smile in response, but the smile quickly faded.

"I just hope that we'll be safe from the Wikas."

"If we end up meeting them, we may be able to gain their trust somehow." Wally suggested.

"But how exactlyth do we doeth that?" Daffy asked.

"The only person they may be willing to trust would be Jessica." Bonji said. Everybody looked at Bonji and then at Jessica.

"Whyeth would these Wikasth trust a girl rabbit and not a handsometh ducketh?" Everybody but Wally and Bonji gave Daffy a death glare at this remark.

"Because Jessica is the strongest female in this group. I think my brother told you before; the Wikas only trust other females. I remember getting too close to them when I was young." Bonji paused while remembering a troublesome memory.

"What happened exactly?" Tweety asked. Bonji shuddered at the horrible memory but recounted it anyway.

"About 1 year ago, I was walking through the forest. I had gone with the guards to try and negotiate with a group of thieves that had taken up residence in the forest. This was before the Dawners came on the scene. The Wikas attacked us while we were heading to the base of the thieves. I was separated from my guards during the attack. I ended up in a trap set by the Wikas. I was eventually released just because I was a female. Even so, they just left me in the forest to find my own way back. I did eventually meet up with the guards that had come with me and we returned to town." Bonji then knelt to the floor and began to cry gently, saddened by the painful memory. She didn't want to go into much greater detail about the memory because it saddened her too much. It took her an incredible amount of courage just to say what she had. Wally eventually put a hand on the princess's shoulder.

"Princess, we won't let that happen to you again." Wally said reassuringly. Everybody nodded in agreement. Bonji dried her tears, looked up at the group and gave a smile.

"Thank you everyone. But we may have to befriend them anyway. They defend the temple."

"Guys, we are not getting anyway by talking about it here. I say we stock up on healing items with the money we have left and then head to the forest. We'll head to the temple first." Zach instructed, taking command of the group.

* * *

The group used the rest of the money to purchase some useful healing items. They bought a total of 5 bottles of water, 5 wisdom berries, 3 anti berries (poison cures), 3 movement berries (paralysis cures) and 1 heat berry (freeze cure). This left them with 100 gold pieces left. The group was going to hold onto this spare amount of gold for when they needed it. The group were now in the forest, called the Wika forest. The group could see a few birds in the trees and there were a few flowers around. The group had gotten into some fights with wild animals during their trek. They had mostly been fighting bear like creatures called Bearaxes and large flightless birds called Warks. The group had reached a small clearing in the forest. The road they were on split into three paths now, and there were no signs to indicate which way the group should go. Everybody in the group turned in anticipation towards Zach, since he was the leader. In turn, he looked towards the princess.

"Princess, which way should we go?" Zach asked. Princess Bonji looked down all three pathways.

"I know that one of the pathways will lead to the Wikas home village. Another will lead to a shrine in the centre of the forest. The third must lead to the Dawner's base. But I can't remember which is which though." Bonji admitted.

"What did you say about a shrine?" Aaooga asked. Bonji turned to address the group.

"There's a legend about this forest. It is said that a legendary creature, never before seen by any living person, guards this forest. The shrine is in honor of the guardian. It is said that people in ancient times would visit the shrine and offer one of their own as a sacrifice to the guardian." Bonji explained.

"What doeseth thiseth spiriteth look like?" Daffy asked. Everybody gave him a sceptical look.

"Nobody knows because it has never been seen." Zach scolded.

"What your leader said." Bonji added.

"Hey, what are you doing in our forest?!" A voice from somewhere shouted. The group turned to the pathway on the left. Standing there was a green colored vixen, wearing loose clothing that only just preserved her dignity. She also had a spear in her hand. The vixen had green hair flowing down her back. The sight made Daffy do a wolf howl and start drooling like a maniac until Penelope smacked him in the back of the head.

"How embarrassing." Penelope thought to herself. Zach leant in close to the princess.

"Is this one of the Wikas?" Zach asked. Bonji nodded quite grimly.

"You, all of you, leave this forest and never return!" The vixen growled, thrusting her spear towards the nearest person to her; Bugs. Bugs drew one of his swords and blocked the attack. Everybody else drew their weapons in defence.

"No choices. We have to fight this lady." Zach instructed. The vixen then spun the sphere so the blunt end was facing the group. A split second later, a sphere was fired in the middle of the group. The sphere suddenly exploded and released a green gas, enveloping the whole group. They began to choke and tried to blow the smoke away. Wally took a deep breath and inhaled all of the gas himself. He then exhaled suddenly, creating a huge gale and blowing the green gas towards the vixen, enveloping her. He had been able to perform his trick quickly enough to protect the whole group from being affected by the gas. The gas was now affecting the Wika who had fired it, and she quickly fell asleep as a result.

"That was a great trick Wally." Jessica complimented. Wally gave a sheepish smile in response.

"It's one of my special skills." Wally replied, trying to be as modest as possible.

"But we should still be careful. Wikas rarely attack alone." Bonji added. At that moment, almost as if they were waiting for that cue, a swarm of Wikas dropped down from the trees. Some were vixens, some were cats and there were even some rabbits. They were all dressed in the same attire. Most of them had spears, while others had blowpipes. The spears were all pointed towards the group, as were the blowpipes. The group were completely outnumbered and out-armed. Everyone still had their weapons out, but they all took a defensive position and waited to see what the Wikas would do.


	9. The Wika village

(A/N: Another character created by Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro will appear in this chapter. Let me know if he/she's out of character. Also, if you see this ------------------- it means there's a break in the scene, but it isn't the end of the scene.)

**The Wika village**

The group found themselves completely surrounded by Wika warriors. They were nearly knocked unconscious by a gas attack but had been saved by Wally. Even so, they were completely outnumbered and out-armed. They were forced to take a defensive posture and wait to see what the Wikas would do. Bonji took to hiding behind Zach while preparing to launch a spell at the Wikas. One of the Wikas suddenly lunged her spear towards Zach. Zach blocked the spear with his shield and then lashed out with his sword. The Wika evaded the swipe easily. A blow dart was then fired at Zach. The blow dart narrowly missed him, flying straight between his ears. Zach thrust his sword towards the nearest Wika, but didn't make contact either. Another Wika then thrust her spear into Zach, catching him in the side and knocking him to the floor. He was still conscious but heavily wounded. Sylvester quickly pointed his staff towards Zach immediately.

"Recover." Sylvester shouted, casting recover on Zach. The spell healed Zach a little and he was able to stand up. Jessica had now had enough. She focused into the sword she was holding, like she had been told to at the shop.

"Sharpen!" Jessica shouted. Her sword glowed red and then Jessica did. With her new strength, Jessica swung at a Wika. The blow found its mark and knocked the Wika to the floor. Penelope, who fired one of her steel arrows into the chest, then finished the Wika. The Wika died and dissolved like all enemies did when they were defeated. The other Wikas then performed a group attack. The Wikas with spears all thrust forward towards the group all at once. The result of the attack was that most of the group were hurt badly. It seemed that the Wikas had phenomenal attack power but equally poor defences. Sylvester tried to use recover, but he was suddenly hit with a spear. He wasn't KOed but the spell was interrupted. Wally Wolf then tried something. He leapt into the air and held his sword straight up.

"Lightning!" Wally shouted. A streak of lightning fell from the sky and hit Wally's sword. Wally then quickly swung his sword at some Wikas that had tried to approach him. The additional electric damage that had been added killed the three Wikas he hit. The remaining Wikas then used a different attack. They suddenly thrust the tips of their spears into the ground. The result created a large tremor that knocked the group to the floor. A lone Wika tried to attack Bonji while she was grounded, but she already had a counter attack. She quickly pointed both her hands towards the approaching Wika.

"Photon!" Bonji shouted. A sphere of light, similar to Jessica's bloody spear spell, suddenly surrounded the Wika. The spell killed the Wika instantly. The group had been able to kill a few Wikas, but there were still a large number left. Running out of energy, Jessica decided on a desperation attack.

"Everyone, get down now." Jessica instructed. Everyone ducked, deciding not to argue. All of the Wikas began to rush at Jessica, trying to take an opening. This was what Jessica wanted them to do. She stuck out her sword and then span on the spot, sticking her sword out sideways. This attacked caught many of the Wikas who had closed in on her to be knocked back, either heavily wounded or, in the case of two unfortunate Wikas, killed. The surviving Wikas closed in on Jessica again. She expected the rest of the Wikas to launch a full-scale attack on her, but they didn't. One of them instead pulled out a horn and blew it. That Wika then approached the group, the rest of whom had climbed back to their feet. This Wika was a rabbit that looked very much like Jessica's mother Lola, except she had green hair. She had a look that showed that she was impressed at the group's performance.

"It is not often when we find a group that can fight so well despite such overwhelming odds." The Wika spoke. Zach walked over next to Jessica. He still had his hand on his weapon, even though he was running out of energy. He was very weary that the Wikas would try something.

"Are you the leader of the Wikas?" Zach asked. The Wika shook her head.

"My name is Danielabella. I am the leader of the forest guards. You came too close to our village and that is why we attacked you." Danielabella paused when another Wika came next to her. This Wika had a small pot. Danielabella opened the pot and took out some green powder. "I have to ask you, why have you come into the forest." Danielabella continued. Zach gave a heavy sigh. The response might trigger a heavy attacked form The Wikas, but it would be ill advisable to lie to them.

"We need the rainbow stone that resides in the temple that you guard." Danielabella gave a very brief frown but she did not order an attack.

"That is not up to me. Normally, only Wikas can enter the temple, but our leader may be willing to make an exception in your case." Danielabella paused to look at another Wika. The other Wika nodded knowingly and rushed away. "She has gone to talk to our leader about your request. She will make a final decision. I shall warn you now, she may ask that one of you fight our strongest warrior." Danielabella's explanation made the whole group shudder briefly. "If that is the case, you will never be able to beat her after being worn down just then." With that, Danielabella blew the green powder that was in her hands towards the group before anybody could protest. To their surprise, the powder healed all of their wounds in an instant. "That powder is made of a magic herb that grows in this forest. Once refined by our secret arts, it will heal all wounds, no matter how severe." Soon after, the Wika that Danielabella had sent away returned. She whispered into Danielabella's ear, who simply nodded in response. "Our leader wishes to speak to you. Please follow us."

* * *

Danielabella and the other Wikas led the group to the hidden village. The village consisted of several buildings of varying sizes. Nearly all of them were made of wood and straw, apart from one very large building in the centre of the village, which was made of stone. The stone building was the largest building in the village and looked like the old roman colosseum. The sight sent a shiver up the group's spine. Going through the village was a river. The river flowed under all of the houses, providing the houses with a constant water supply. There were a few villagers about. They cast a glare towards the group and resumed what they were doing. Danielabella lead the group to a large wooden building. This one was decorated around the door with the skulls of various animals, making the more nervous members of the group and the kids shudder nervously. Danielabella led them inside the building. Inside was what appeared to be a throne room. The room was also decorated, but with green ribbons and a few skulls. There was a large chair at the end. Sitting in the chair was a female coyote, the leader of the Wikas. She was dressed in golden clothes rather than green clothes, signifying that she was the leader. Standing beside her were two guards, female coyote Wikas. Danielabella approached the leader and bowed in respect.

"I have brought the warriors lady Vaniella." Danielabella said in respect. Vaniella looked over at the group, not seeming impressed at the sight of them.

"Approach warriors." Vaniella said in a booming voice. The voice made everyone in the group jump but they approached cautiously. Some of them bowed to show respect, but Daffy and Sylvester didn't out of fear. "I hear that you were able to fight off our warriors." Vaniella spoke in a much quieter tone. The group that had bowed down stood up again, noticing that Vaniella was motioning them to stand.

"Well, they weren'tth that hardeth." Daffy said, promptly being smacked in the back of the head by Bugs.

"Daff, do you want the Wikas to get even more riled?" Bugs asked with a hiss. Daffy simply shrugged.

"We were trying to defend both ourselves and the princess." Zach said. Vaniella looked over at princess Bonji, who was keeping at the back of the group to protect herself.

"Ah, princess Bonji. How interesting that we should meet up again." Vaniella said.

"Vaniella, we would've met up again anyway. A confrontation was unavoidable." Bonji said. Vaniella simply nodded.

"I understand, considering what you need from us." The group didn't ask how Vaniella knew what they wanted because they figured that the Wika who went earlier had told her. "But as I'm sure Danielabella has told you, only Wikas can enter our temple."

"But we need to enter that temple in order to protect the land." Tweety said.

"So that is why I am willing to give you a chance to prove yourself. Who is the strongest female in your group?" At this, everybody pointed to Jessica, who was standing next to Zach while looking at Vaniella.

"Jessica." The group said. Jessica simply rolled her eyes, turned around and stared daggers at the group.

"Thanks a bunch." Jessica scolded.

"It's the truth. You're the only of the girls who can use a sword." Sylvester Jr. replied.

"I have almost no physical strength." Penelope added.

"I'm too small." Aaooga added. Jessica simply sighed in response.

"Very well. Jessica, you shall fight our strongest warrior one on one. If you can defeat her or survive for five minutes, I shall allow your group to enter our temple." Vaniella said. Jessica gave a shudder but put on a brave face.

"I accept the challenge." Jessica said. Vaniella clicked her fingers, getting Danielabella's attention.

"Take Jessica to the colosseum and take the rest of their group to the viewing stands. The fight will begin immediately."

* * *

A few moments later, Jessica was standing behind a wooden door in the colosseum, which was the huge stone building the group had seen before. She was very nervous about fighting the strongest of the Wikas, but knew that she could be capable of winning the fight. However, the rumours that the Wikas strongest warrior could destroy a whole town alone made her very nervous. She was planning to rely on her speed more than her strength. She was silently hoping that her opponent was slow so she could take advantage. She was relieved that she had been permitted to use her spells in the fight. She wanted to munch on a carrot but she didn't have any to munch on. Instead, she calmed herself down with some deep breathing. A few moments later, the wooden door opened. On the other side was a huge open area. Around the outside on a raised section were the stands where the spectators could sit. Also, at the very top was a box area where Vaniella sat to watch the fight. In the stand was every single Wika that lived in the village. Jessica could also see the rest of her group, sitting in an isolated area in the stand. On the ground level was a single Wika, obviously the referee of the battle.

"Ladiiiiiiieeeeeeeessssssss and Ladiiiiiiieeeeeeeessssssss, and gentlemen." The Wika shouted, the part about gentlemen spoken in a barely audible whisper. "From the East, the challenger for the right to enter the temple, Jessica Bunny!" Hearing her name, Jessica stepped out into the battlefield. Her group cheered but most of the Wikas stayed silent. There were a few barely audible boos heard, which made Jessica slightly angry.

"Now I have some people to prove wrong." Jessica thought to herself

-------------------

"A lot of opposition." Sylvester Jr. said from the crowd.

"Tough crowd." Tweety added.

-------------------

"From the West, the Wika champion…" The referee began to speak as a door opposite Jessica opened. On the other side was a Hyena girl, taller than Jessica but slightly shorter than Bugs and the like, dressed like the rest of the Wikas. She had green hair and wore spiky bracelets, an accessory that the other Wikas didn't have. She also wore a dog-like chain around her neck and had a single earring on her left ear, also accessories that most Wikas didn't have. Jessica thought the accessories showed that this Wika was more powerful than all of the others. "…Hilary Hyena!" The announcement was accompanied by a huge cheer from the Wikas.

-------------------

The rest of the group didn't jeer Hilary, fearing being attacked by the other Wikas. Even so, the sight of Hilary sent a few chills down the spines of the group.

"She looks tough." Penelope said.

"Can Jessica wineth this?" Daffy asked.

"All we can do is hope for the best." Bonji replied.

-------------------

Hilary looked at Jessica while cocking an eyebrow. She was obviously unimpressed with her opponent. She put her hands on her hips and looked at Jessica with a look that said she was not impressed.

"You are the strongest girl in the group. You don't look very tough. The guards must be ill to be bested by you." Hilary spoke. Jessica gave a sneer in return.

"Why not put your money where your mouth is Hyena." Jessica scolded. Hilary gave a chuckle.

"I'll tell you what, if you can survive for the five minutes, I'll take you to the temple myself." With that, Hilary went into an offensive stance and prepared to fight.

(A/N: Acosta, I would appreciate it if you helped me a little with Hilary's fighting style. I'll PM you for additional details.))


	10. The Rabbit and the Hyena

**The Rabbit and the Hyena**

Hilary approached Jessica cautiously. Despite her earlier mocking, she figured that Jessica had to be tough to be invited to fight against her. Jessica had her weapon drawn and was keeping a short distance away from Hilary. They were both doing the same thing; sizing up the opposition. Hilary, being a predator, was naturally skilled at reading the strength of her opponents before a fight. For Jessica though, this was a learnt skill, meaning that she wasn't perfect. She had underestimated enemies in the past, nearly costing Jessica her life a couple of times. She was determined not to make that mistake with Hilary. Since she had no idea how strong Hilary was, she had to make a fresh judgement. She was out of range of any attacks from the Hyena but couldn't make any of her own. Hilary was being equally cautious. Although she was the strongest of the Wikas, she didn't let that get the better of her. She wanted to be sure that she could defeat Jessica and retain her title as champ. Jessica made the first serious move, attempting to catch Hilary off guard. She suddenly rushed forward and swung her sword at Hilary's legs. Hilary reacted by jumping into the air; Jessica had left herself open to one of her special moves early on. She put her fists together and raised them above her head.

"HILL SMASH!" Hilary shouted, bringing down both fists onto Jessica's head. Jessica was knocked to the floor and nearly knocked unconscious in one move. Remaining conscious, Jessica rolled away form the Hyena while Hilary gave chase. Hilary launched a rain of punches at Jessica's body, directed at several parts. Jessica used her sword to block as many as she could and dodged as many as she could, but still took a few hits. Jessica eventually found the strength to suddenly thrust her sword towards Hilary, forcing the Hyena to jump back in defence. This allowed Jessica to climb to her feet and focus a little.

"Recover." Jessica spoke, casting recover on herself to heal some of her injuries. She finished her spell just in time to notice Hilary launching another attack. Jessica leapt to the side and swiped at Hilary's side, scoring a hit to the Hyena's side and causing some damage. Hilary was pushed back by the blow and forced to take a defensive, allowing Jessica to perform a multitude of slashes at Hilary. Hilary was able to dodge most of the blows but suffered some injuries. She still had a lot of energy left though. Hilary stopped Jessica's attack by punching her in the gut, forcing her to take up a defensive posture.

"Wow, impressive rabbit, but you won't last much longer." Hilary spoke before rushing at Jessica. Jessica held her sword above her, having a sudden idea. She then began running at Hilary. It seemed like the two fighters were on a collision course. At the last moment, Jessica swung her sword downwards and used it like a pole vault to leap over Hilary's head and out of the Hyena's reach, being sure to take her sword with her. Hilary paused for a moment, wondering what Jessica had just done. By the time Hilary realised that Jessica was now airborne and behind her, it was too late. Jessica had aimed her free hand at Hilary while she was airborne.

"Fireball!" With that shout, Jessica shot a fireball right at Hilary. The spell found its mark and caused a good deal of damage, forcing Hilary to take another step back. This gave Jessica a chance to do a power up. "Sharpen!" Jessica spoke, focusing into her sword. Now that she had cast sharpen on herself, she could do even more damage. Trying to take the initiative, Jessica rushed at Hilary. Hilary stood her ground and waited for Jessica to get close. When she got close, Jessica tried a vicious sideswipe. Hilary evaded the attack by jumping. When she landed, she grabbed Jessica by the ears and began to spin on the spot, eventually throwing Jessica like she was a weight. Jessica flew through the air and landed on the ground with a thud and slid on the floor. She picked herself up and cast recover on herself, since she was getting a little worn out. She then noticed Hilary charging at her. Jessica decided to do the same trick she had done a moment ago. She rushed at Hilary and used her sword to leap over the Hyena. This time, before Jessica could cast an aerial fireball, Hilary removed her bracelets, turned around suddenly and threw her bracelets at Jessica, hitting the rabbit in the face, preventing her from using her spell and knocking her to the ground. The bracelets returned to Hilary's wrists like boomerangs and she now had an opening. She leapt high into the air and prepared another hill smash, raising both fists above her head. Jessica raised her sword to block the deadly blow just in time. Hilary's hill smash attack hit Jessica's sword, protecting the rabbit from the bulk of the impact. The force was still strong enough to create a small crater in the ground around Jessica's body. If it weren't for the armor, she would likely have broken bones now. Jessica swung her sword at Hilary's feet, forcing the Hyena to jump while she rolled out of range of another hill smash. Jessica then had an idea for a way of catching Hilary off guard. Jessica aimed her hand at Hilary quickly. "Bloody sphere!" Jessica shouted, casting bloody sphere against Hilary. Jessica took the brief opening to attack with a multitude of slashes at Hilary. Hilary escaped the attack before it could be used with a sweeping kick that tripped Jessica up, but the rabbit rolled away quickly. Jessica had realised now that Hilary could fight back any trick that has already been performed on her, so she needed to think of one. However, she could see a crucial advantage that she had over Hilary; speed. She decided to run around Hilary in a circle as fast as she could, in an attempt to disorientate the Hyena. She still kept a fair distance from the Hyena, since she was waiting for an opening. Hilary stood still and watched for a moment, a small smirk painted her lips.

"Speedy, but not good enough." Hilary prepared her Hill Smash attack. Jessica made another mistake; thinking Hilary was going to aim for her. Instead, Hilary unleashed her Hill smash straight to the ground. The result was a mini-earthquake that made Jessica lose balance and fall to the ground. Hilary took this opening like a lightning bolt, dashing to the grounded Rabbit and attacking with a rain of punches against her. Jessica was almost defenceless against the attack, having to do her best to block with the sword. Even so, Hilary had Jessica pinned to the ground in a relentless attack. Jessica had to fight back, and she was able to with a violent kick to Hilary's leg. Hilary had to stop the attack and turn defensive, allowing Jessica to back away a little. Jessica had taken a huge beating, while Hilary looked like she could go on for a lot longer. Jessica had to do something that Hilary hadn't seen yet, otherwise she would lose the fight. She could easily see that the Hyena wasn't going to let her use another spell. She then had an idea, a risky one, but it might turn the battle around. She slowly approached the Hyena, ready to do one move she hadn't yet used against Hilary. A smile painted Hilary's lips.

"So, you're coming so I can deliver the final blow are you?" Hilary spoke, before rushing at Jessica. This was Jessica's cue. The moment Hilary was close enough, she used the spinning attack she had used earlier, sticking her sword out to the side and spinning wildly. The new attacked surprised Hilary and forced her to back away, but she immediately saw an opening. She raised her fists into the air and prepared another Hill smash, but now Jessica saw the opening in Hilary's special attack. She leapt into the air and over the Hill smash before it was launched and then brought down her blade onto the Hyena's hands. Hilary had only one defence; to grab the blade and throw Jessica to the ground, even though Jessica's attack had wounded her. This gave Jessica another opening. While on the ground, she swung her blade in a circle on the floor in an attempt to trip the hyena up. Hilary saw the move coming and leapt into the air, but she didn't prepare Hill smash. She instead leapt backwards to play defensively for a moment. Jessica climbed back to her feet, even though she was now very worn out from the fight. However it was clear that Hilary was equally worn out by the battle. It seemed like there was only one way to settle the fight, and they both knew it. Both warriors began charging towards each other, ready to make the final attacks against each other. Just before they met to end the battle…

"That's it, five minutes have passed. This battle is a draw!" The referee spoke. There was a mixed reaction from the crowd. Many of the Wikas were talking amongst themselves about the fight. Hilary just smiled and approached Jessica while Jessica put her sword away.

"Great work Jessica. I completely underestimated you." Hilary said, offering her hand in friendship. Jessica smiled, thankful that Hilary showed no hard feelings, and accepted the handshake.

"I underestimated you as well. You were tough." Jessica said. Hilary chuckled.

"I didn't get the title of strongest Wika warrior by being a slacker." Hilary paused to look over at Jessica's group, who were all cheering and applauding. "I can now see how our warriors had a tough time against your group. The leader should allow you to head to our temple, and I believe I said that I'd be your guide if you survived the five minutes." Hilary chuckled again, and even Jessica smiled.

----------------------------------

In the stands, there was a mixed reaction to the result of the battle. Most of the Wikas were deadly quiet at the result. The only noise came from Jessica's group. Many of them were cheering. Zach was giving a huge sigh of relief at the outcome. He was so worried that Jessica would be beaten, or worse. Bonji had had her eyes closed for most of the battle, since she didn't want to see one of her heroes get defeated. She only opened her eyes when she heard the cheering. When she realised what had happened, she joined in the cheering. Bugs wasn't cheering; he was just relieved that Jessica was ok. While he was cheering, Daffy made a stupid mistake. He looked over at the Wikas and, rather unceremoniously, began to jeer at them

"Losers! Losers! Losers! Lo…" Daffy was silenced when an arrow flew from the Wikas' direction and slammed into his beak. The arrow went through the beak and forcible kept it closed, at least until Sylvester yanked it out. Daffy gave a sneer at the Wikas.

"Sore loserseth." Was the sneer from Daffy.

"Daffy, you'reth a soreth winnereth." Was Sylvester's comeback.

----------------------------------

Back in the battle arena, a medic had just healed Hilary and Jessica of their wounds with the same powder Danielabella had used when the group first arrived in the forest. Hilary had turned to face all of the Wikas in the stands. She clapped her hands together so she could get their attention.

"Everyone, let's give our challenger a well deserved round of applause for a great battle." Hilary spoke to everyone. At that line, the whole area erupted in applause from the Wikas. Jessica looked up with a smile, standing next to Hilary. The Hyena was right; the battle was tough but it was fun at the same time. Jessica glanced up at Hilary again. There was something troubling her mind that she decided not to say. She was wondering if Hilary would consider staying with the group for the whole adventure, not just up to the temple.

((Acosta, let me know if I made any errors in Hilary's fighting style. Thanks for your advice.))


	11. Guide to the temple

**Guide to the temple**

After the vicious battle, the group returned to Vaniella's central building. Hilary had stayed with the group during the trip from the colosseum to the throne room. Thanks to the special Wika medicine, both Hilary and Jessica were on their feet and ready for more. Both were sitting next to each other in Vaniella's throne room, giving each other a look of respect. They had both made the same mistake of underestimating each other. Zach was sitting next to Jessica as well. He didn't need to say anything to show that he was very proud of the way Jessica had battles against Hilary. Wally sat at the front near Zach, with Bonji being in between both Wally and Zach. Bonji somehow felt that they were going to be her best protectors, though she was sitting in front of Sylvester Jr. Hilary gave a respectful eye to Vaniella, worried that the Wika queen would be unhappy about the battle's outcome. Although they didn't say it, many of them were nervous as to how the queen would react. She was looking at the group with a very stern expression, especially at Hilary and Jessica. It was hard to tell whether she was happy or unhappy. Even Danielabella, who was standing next to Vaniella, couldn't tell whether the queen was happy or not. The entire atmosphere was very tense. The group didn't know it, but many other Wikas had gathered outside the hut. All of them were anxious as to what Vaniella would say to Jessica and the rest of the group, and to see whether Hilary would be punished for not winning the battle. The tense silence that occurred lasted for a few minutes, until a lone Wika guard approached Vaniella, carrying a golden spear. The Wika bowed and handed the spear to Vaniella, who took the staff in both hands. She then stood to her feet from the chair where she was sitting.

"Jessica Bunny, step forward." Vaniella instructed with authority. Nervously and cautiously, Jessica stepped up and approached Vaniella. The rest of the group had to stay back, but they watched very nervously. Zach put a hand on his weapon, just in case something happened. Wally looked on anxiously, though he didn't hold his weapon like Zach did. Bugs was probably the most nervous of the group He was worried that Jessica's time in the game would be cut short by a spiteful queen. Hilary was ready to object should something go wrong. She was aware that she could be exiled from the village if she disagreed with Vaniella, but she felt that Jessica deserved to live. She hadn't seen Vaniella with a golden spear before. Vaniella suddenly spun the spear so that the tip was pointing in Jessica's direction, but the tip itself was aimed in the air. The group did gasp when the spear was spun. A thick air of tension suddenly descended upon the group. Nobody was quite sure what would happen next. Jessica looked visibly worried when Vaniella spun the spear. She instinctively took hold of her weapon, but didn't draw it. She just held onto it as a precaution. Everyone looked up as Vaniella lowered the point of the spear slowly, like a drawbridge being lowered, directly onto Jessica's right shoulder. It was only a touch, not enough to cause harm. Even so, the group shuddered at the sight, all except for the Wikas. Jessica didn't move an inch, her defence instincts were telling her to stay still and only react if an attack was launched. Sylvester found himself having to restrain Daffy, who nearly rushed in to attack. The group just watched as Vaniella raised the spear and lowered it onto Jessica's shoulder. Many of the group now recognized what was going on. The movement Vaniella was making with the spear was the same movement when someone was being knighted. This eased a huge amount of tension in the group, and Vaniella was just about done, giving the spear back to a guard. "Jessica Bunny, I hereby declare you an honorary Wika. You and your friends are free to move in and out of the village as you like." This announcement came as a huge relief to the group. Those who were holding their weapons let go of them. Some of them wanted to cheer but many didn't out of courtesy…

"Woo-hoo…" Daffy had begun to cheer, only for Bugs to clamp his beak shut with his hand.

"Quiet Daffy!" Bugs hissed quietly at the duck. Hilary had noticed the scene out of the corner of her eye and gave a very quiet chuckle. Zach gave a very grateful smile towards the front. He was relieved that Vaniella hadn't harmed Jessica for winning the battle against Hilary. Rather the opposite, she looked genuinely impressed at the battle. However, she then surprised the group quickly by changing the subject.

"So then, you now all have my permission to enter the temple in our care." Vaniella spoke. Jessica gave a polite bow.

"Thank you Vaniella." Jessica said. A moment after, Hilary spoke up, wanting to say something to Vaniella.

"Vaniella, I made a promise to Jessica that I would guide her group to the temple should she win her battle…" Hilary began before Vaniella interrupted, seeing where the conversation was going.

"And so you shall Hilary. Besides, your gauntlets are needed to enter the temple." This came as a bit of a surprise to Hilary. Apparently her bracelets had a property that she didn't even know about. All she did was raise her arms and look at her bracelets for a moment. Until now, she only used them as decorations or as weapons, like when she used then to counter Jessica's aerial attack during the fight. She couldn't think to ask anything about the bracelets. She didn't have time, as Daffy was getting impatient.

"Come on guyseth. The more we dawdle abouteth here, the more time we wasteth." Daffy suddenly spoke. Zach looked back at Daffy once before looking at Vaniella.

"Although I hate to admit it, Daffy is right here." Zach said, looking at Vaniella and Hilary. "We should be getting to the temple." Zach continued.

"What does that mean Zach?" Daffy asked, before Bugs clamped Daffy's beak shut again.

"Daffy, that's enough." Bugs hissed again. This time, most of the people in the room chuckled at the display; even Vaniella couldn't help but laugh.

"I see that one of your crew is restless." Vaniella chuckled. Jessica chuckled again. "You'd all best be getting on your way." Vaniella added.

* * *

It was soon after that when the group was on its way to the temple. Hilary, Jessica and Zach were at the front. Bonji was in the middle of the group, the idea being that anything trying to attack her would have to go through everyone else first. Although none of the members of the group were mad at each other for any reason, there was an unusual amount of tension in the group. Many of them, such as Sylvester, Sylvester Jr, Daffy and Penelope weren't immediately trusting of Hilary. That said, some of them, such as Bonji, Jessica, Zach and Wally, trusted Hilary enough. While the rest of the group were unsure of what to think of Hilary. They were unsure of whether they should trust the Hyena or not. Many of them were keeping quiet, keeping an eye out for any attackers. Jessica, Wally, Zach and Hilary however, were already engaged in a discussion, most of it revolving around the fight earlier.

"That was a great match you two." Zach told Hilary and Jessica.

"Thanks." Both girls replied simultaneously, getting a chuckle immediately from Zach and Wally. Hilary and Jessica realised what they had done and began to chuckle as well. "You know girl, you're much stronger than you look." Hilary told Jessica. Jessica gained a smug smile.

"I know. A lot of people tell me that." Jessica replied.

"If you think she was strong then, you should see her when she's angry." Zach joked, getting a stare from Jessica.

"Zach, watch your mouth and what comes out of it." Jessica spoke. Hilary gave a chuckle.

"Judging by that, I'd say that you two are pretty close." Hilary's comment caught the rabbit's attention. They both looked directly at her. "I've heard that the more a boy and girl fight each other, the more they really like each other." Jessica and Zach looked at each other for a moment before laughing. Wally couldn't work out what the laughter was about at first, though he did have a suspicion.

"Ok, you got us. We are a budding couple." Zach said. Wally gave a nod, joining in the discussion.

"I thought so. When I first met you, you did seem to battle very much in sync with each other. That sort of teamwork can only normally work if the two fighters have absolute trust in each other." Wally said. Both rabbits turned to look at each other for a moment before laughing again. "I think that you two make a really nice couple by the way." Wally added.

"Why thank you Wally." Jessica said to the wolf. Zach gave a very quick cough, deciding to change the subject.

"Hilary, how did you learn to fight?" Zach asked.

"Most of it's natural. I do have a fair bit of natural strength. And Wikas are strong anyway so it was kinda second nature." Hilary replied, turning to Jessica again. "Though I do have some skills that set me apart from other Wikas." This caught Jessica's attention. She didn't have much in the way of natural talent; she had trained to get to where she was. However, Hilary had just revealed that she had a natural skill.

"What would that skill be Hilary?" Jessica asked the hyena.

"I never fall for the same trick twice." Hilary explained, giving a smile at Jessica. "For instance, during the fight that we had, you used the trick of using your sword to pole vault over me and attack from behind. The first time I was caught by surprise, but the second time you did that, I knew how to counter it…" Hilary explained before Jessica finished.

"By throwing your bracelets like boomerangs, forcing me to defend and allowing you to go on the offensive." Jessica finished.

"I can see why you make a tough opponent. I'm glad I wasn't the one fighting you." Zach added. Hilary and Jessica both laughed.

"I have to give credit to Jessica though. She was a lot faster than I gave her credit for. I'm surprised that you haven't trained as a ninja. You certainly have the speed for it." Hilary commented. Jessica gave a smile at Hilary. Both she and Zach kept quiet about the unbeknownst irony of the statement Hilary had just made. As they walked, they past a wooden statue on the path, a statue that caught most of the group's attention. It looked like a totem pole, with the heads of a bear, a pig, and eagle and a cat. The group approached the statue with admiring glances.

"Cool totem pole." Bugs commented.

"What? No ducketh?" Daffy asked.

"At leasteth they have a cat." Sylvester commented.

"I love the architecture." Penelope commented.

"An excellent place to perch and rest our wings." Tweety said as he and Aaooga perched on the statue.

"Say, what is it anyway?" Sylvester Jr. asked.

"It's a totem pole. Those horrible faces are meant to keep evil spirits away." Bonji explained.

"We're almost at the temple. It's just on the other side of those bushes." Hilary said, pointed to some bushes nearby. The group instinctively went to the bushes Hilary had pointed out. Zach allowed Hilary to go first, since she was the one who was guiding them to the temple. As Hilary said, the temple was on the other side of the bushes. It was not easy to miss, since it was huge. It looked very much like one of the ancient pyramids, except the sides were decorated with statues and carvings. There were also numerous vines growing on the temple. The temple was grey but it still looked spectacular. However, one member of the group wasn't impressed by the temple.

"What has happened?" Hilary asked, looking a little shocked.

((Acosta, let me know if you think I've made any mistakes with Hilary and Wally. And sorry this took so long guys.))


End file.
